Bridesmaid Says, I Do!
Page 16
‘The—ah—bit you just said.’
‘About loving you?’
‘Yes.’
Kent smiled gorgeously. ‘Darling girl, that’s why I’m here.’ His hands framed her face. His eyes shone. ‘I love you so much. So much it kills me.’
She was so happy she was going to cry. But she still mustn’t get her hopes up. She had to stay sensible. ‘But—but this isn’t a proposal or anything, is it?’
‘It certainly is.’
Her heart almost leapt clear out of her chest. ‘But you—you said—’
‘I know what I said about long-term commitment, but that was before.’ Kent’s throat rippled and his eyes shimmered. ‘Everything changed when you stepped on that plane, Zoe. I watched you walking out of my life, and it was like I was drowning all over again. Every moment I’d spent with you flashed before my eyes—from the first time we met by the road side and you had the flat tyre, and all those other times at Willara, and then in Brisbane.’
He took a deep breath. ‘I’ve been falling for you from the start, but I was planning the wedding to Bella, and I couldn’t let myself think about you.’
Lifting her hands, Kent pressed them against his chest and she felt the thud-thudding of his heartbeats. ‘I’ve missed you so much. And I’ve come to my senses at last. Of course, I want what you want, Zoe. I want your help with running the farm, and I want our own little family.’
It was too, too wonderful to take in. To Zoe’s dismay, fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she had to blot them on Kent’s shirtfront.
When she looked up again, his dark eyes burned with an intensity that made her tremble. ‘Don’t ever doubt that I love you, Zoe. You’re exactly like these candles. You’re beautiful and smart and you set me alight.’
‘And you brought all forty-eight of them all this way to prove it.’ Smiling, she snuggled closer and wound her arms around his neck. ‘I do love a man of action.’
‘So does that mean you’ll marry me?’
Would she? Would she marry the most gorgeous farmer in the world and live in his lovely farmhouse set solidly and safely amidst spreading fields?
Would she embrace her most cherished dream?
For answer Zoe kissed him. ‘Yes,’ she said, and she gave him another kiss. ‘Yes, please, I’d love to marry you.’ Then she kissed him again while forty-eight candles glowed warmly in the midwinter night.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Barbara Hannay 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-91999-6
Table of Contents
Praise for Barbara Hannay
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Copyright