Carole Mortimer - Romance of A Lifetime

by Romance of A Lifetime

  'Darling, the fact that you love Marcus has been blazmgly obvious for weeks,' her mother put in gently.

  'To Marcus too?' she groaned, wondering if that was the reason he had left them so suddenly today once the court case was over.

  For weeks he had been there, a quiet but constant support, and then today, when it was all over, he had made his excuses and left without saying whether or not she would be seeing him again.

  His duty over? His responsibility as Ross's uncle—Ross having been one of the men to cause her pain—over and done with? She admitted that over the weeks, although there had been nothing said or done, she had begun to hope he might care for her and wasn't just correcting a wrong that had been helped in its success by his ward.

  But he had left them earlier, refusing to join them for lunch, despite Beth's invitation for him to do so.

  'No,' her mother answered her question. 'The two of you have been hiding your feelings from each other very successfully.'

  Beth moistened her lips, her heart leaping with excitement. 'What do you mean?'

  'Marcus loves you,' her mother said matter-of-factly.

  'No! He——'

  'Yes, Beth,' her mother insisted. 'Why else do you suppose he was so supportive?'

  'He felt responsible for Ross's part in it.' She shrugged.

  'That responsibility was dispatched by providing you with one of the most competent lawyers in the country. I'm having dinner with James tonight, by the way,' she added coyly.

  'Really?' Beth smiled. She had liked James Hawthorn from the first, a tall distinguished-looking man in his early fifties.

  'Really,' her mother cajoled. 'I may even get around to divorcing your father one of these days.'

  Her mother must like James very much to be considering that! Beth was glad. If anyone deserved love and happiness in her life then her mother did.

  'Let's get back to you and Marcus,' her mother said firmly, not about to be distracted any further.

  'There is no Marcus and me,' Beth dismissed.

  'But there could be.'

  'I don't——'

  'Marcus is just being honourable, I'm sure,' her mother insisted. 'The last eighteen months have been hell for you, not least because of his nephew's part in it. How can Marcus now turn around and tell you how he feels about you? The poor man is in a very awkward position,'

  'You don't know how he feels about me——'

  'I know that he had fulfilled his obligation to you by initiating the sorting out of the legal tangle his nephew had helped get you into by providing James to help you. He didn't have to continue visiting you, spending time with you, coming with you today. He's a busy man in his own right, and yet he's spent weeks——'

  'All right, Mummy,' Beth ruefully silenced her. 'You have me convinced that Marcus overstepped the lines of obligation. But that doesn't mean——-'

  'Why do you think the whole thing was so important to him?' her mother demanded impatiently.

  'His nephew——'

  'Oh, damn his nephew!'

  'Mummy!' She frowned at her mother's vehemence.

  'Darling, men like Marcus do not involve themselves in what is, after all, a family matter.'

  'Marcus does; that was why he followed me out to Italy in the first place,' she said stubbornly.

  'Oh, stop being so pig-headed, Beth,' her mother rebuked impatiently. 'It isn't going to do you any harm to go and thank the man personally ———-'

  'I've already thanked him!'

  'Will you stop interrupting me?' Her mother sighed irritably. 'When did you get to be so stubborn and——'

  'Pig-headed, I know,' Beth laughed softly. 'I just don't think——-'

  'For once in your life don't stop to think,' her mother instructed. 'Follow your intuition and go and see Marcus. You have nothing to lose——-'

  'And possibly everything to gain,' Beth finished thoughtfully. 'Maybe I could just go and——'

  'Go.' Her mother took her untouched glass of champagne out of her hand. 'Now. I'll see to the bill.'

  Beth shook her head ruefully. 'Try looking in the mirror some time if you want to see where I get my stubborn pig-headedness from.' She stood up as Katherine pulled a face at her. 'I'll see you later.'

  'Don't hurry back,' her mother called after her.

  It was fine saying she was going to see Marcus, something else to actually do it. Oh, she knew where he lived now when he was in London, had been to his apartment several times during the last few weeks—purely on business matters, of course.

  Beth didn't give herself time to change her mind, to hesitate, going straight from the restaurant to Marcus's home, smiling confidently at the doorman, knowing that within seconds of her stepping into the lift Marcus would know of her imminent arrival, via a discreet telephone call made to his apartment.

  She didn't even know what she was going to say to him, had no idea—

  The apartment door was flung open before she could even ring the bell, and she found herself pulled roughly into Marcus's arms, pressed against his hard chest, breathing in a smell that was a pleasure to her senses, part Marcus and part the aftershave he wore,

  'I was just on my way to join you at the restaurant after all.' His chest rumbled as he spoke huskily. 'I got back to my apartment and just sat here wondering when I would be able to see you again. Beth, the idea of never seeing you again was slowly killing me,' he breathed deeply into her hair. 'I can't believe you're here!'

  He did love her; her mother had been right!

  'Marcus.' Her hands came up to cup either side of his face. 'I think we may both have been being very stupid these last few months. I love you; I have done since Venice.'

  Fire burned in his eyes, 'I think I fell in love with you when I saw your tears in Verona,' he admitted gruffly. 'I had expected to see a hard, brittle woman; what I found was a delicate butterfly who looked as if life itself were hurting her——-'

  'I was horrible to you that first night——'

  'I deserved it; my only defence is that I thought I was dealing with a totally different type of woman entirely. And that's no excuse! Beth, I——'

  'Marcus, let's get out of this hallway.' She looked about them self-consciously. 'We really can't make love out here!' she teased shyly.

  He looked about them dazedly, as if he had been momentarily unaware of their surroundings, grimacing ruefully as they went inside, although he sobered suddenly. 'We aren't going to make love at all,' he told her softly. 'If you really do love me——'

  'I've been in love with you for weeks.' She smiled indulgently at his lack of confidence. 'You only had to give me an indication of how you felt and we could have been together long before now.'

  'I couldn't have been that close to you and not made love to you.' His eyes were dark with desire.

  'You wouldn't have had to be.' She caressed the hardness of his cheek with gentle fingertips.

  'Beth, I love you, and I don't intend making love to you until after we're married… What is it?' He frowned darkly as she moved abruptly away from him. 'Beth?' He looked strained.

  She moistened her lips. 'I can't marry you, Marcus——'

  'I realise your experience with Bradshaw must have put you off marriage,' he grated. 'But it won't be like that between us.'

  'I know it won't,' she assured him shakily, knowing without a doubt that it wouldn't, her faith hi him unshakeable, her response to him undeniable. God, how she wished she could say yes, but she knew she couldn't. 'But I can't marry anyone.'

  'I'm not asking you to marry anyone, I'm asking that you marry me' Marcus still frowned, looking like a man who had been dealt a blow.

  'Marcus, I can't——-?

  'Why?'

  She swallowed hard at the harshly asked question. 'I told you I lost the baby; that I can't have any more children——'

  'And you think that bothers me?' He turned her roughly to face him, his hand beneath her chin as he forced her to look at him. 'I want you, not any chi
ldren we may or may not have from our marriage. Who's to say / can give you children——?'

  'You could be tested—�'

  'Would you feel any differently about me if I were; if we found I couldn't give you children? Would it stop your loving me?' he demanded.

  Her cheeks were flushed. 'No. But——'

  'But nothing, Beth. I want to marry you; nothing less will do. If we decide we would like children then we can always think about adopting them——-'

  'Your Italian grandmother would turn over in her grave at having you marry someone who can't give you children,' Beth said harshly.

  There are already enough grandchildren in the family; I have no inclination to add to their number. All I want is you, Beth.' He held her arms as he looked down at her. 'For a lifetime. I've never had children, so I won't miss them if you decide adoption isn't for us, but if you go out of my life for a reason so unfounded, on any level, then my life will be flat and——-'

  'Without direction,' she finished knowingly. 'Oh, Marcus, I do need you,' she groaned, tears brimming in her eyes. 'I have a feeling I always will!'

  He gathered her close in his arms, kissing her gently, savouring the caresses, controlling the situation for both of them.

  'I love you very much, Beth,' he finally murmured huskily.

  'And I love you,' she answered unhesitantly.

  And it was all that mattered, all that would ever matter.

  Love. And Marcus. A lifetime romance.