by Sara Forbes
Alex is fiddling with something behind the curtain. He straightens up, guiltily. “There you are.”
“What're you up to?” I stride across the carpet and try to see but he holds my wrists tightly, blocking my path.
“Alex, I have to get changed,” I protest, trying to wriggle away. “You have to get … changed.” Then I notice he is changed. Very changed. He's wearing his tux—the one that emphasizes his broad shoulders and tapering waist to such a degree that I don't like other women even seeing him in it.
“Going somewhere?” I ask.
“That depends.”
“On?”
He moves in closer and his lips graze my forehead. “You.”
My eyes pop open in surprise. “What?”
There are beads of sweat on his forehead and his eyes waver with an uncertainty I don't think I have ever experienced in him. My throat tightens with anxiety, trying to figure out what's going on. Some royal function where he has to hobnob with a bunch of self–important lords and ladies of the realm? But that would hardly faze him.
“Do I need to change too?” I ask in a small voice.
“No, you're just fine. Although…” His eyes roam from my eyes to my stocking feet, “I don't mind if you get naked for this.”
“What?”
He squeezes his eyes shut and then open again. He lets out a breath that's almost pained. Then he's lowering himself down to my eye level, then lower, and lower again.
“Alex, I—”
“Shhhh. Look at me, Hayley.”
I meet his eyes. And then I see. Oh God, he's on one knee, not two. And yes, he's holding a small box in black velvet. He can't be … he's not …
“Hayley, my love, will you marry me?”
My knees weaken and I crumple down beside him onto the carpet, grasping his fingers in mine. He presses the box into my palm. “What do you say?”
I enclose the box in my fingers, unable to peel my eyes from his face. “Are you serious?”
His lips curl up slightly to one side. “What do you think?”
“Fuck … I mean yes,” I yell, throwing my arms around his neck, pulling his mouth to mine with my fist still clutching the unopened box. We kiss messily, I'm so out of control, like I'm kissing him for the first time again. Then I kiss him properly, deeply, pouring the tender feelings that have matured over the last twelve months into him. Because we've weathered the distance, the ups and downs, the complexity of family life and castle life and we've always come out stronger. From the very beginning, it's been intense, and a little bit crazy, and we've been forced to find out so much about the other in a short period of time. We've lived through more together than couples who have dated for five years. Marriage will make us stronger again. I just know.
“You'll be my duchess?” When he draws back, Alex's face is bathed in smiles he can't control. “My lady Hayley.”
“Just Hayley, to you. Everything else sounds so weird. I don't think I'll ever get used to that aspect of it.”
He grins and straightens his bow-tie. “Well Hayley, I'm taking you for a ride to celebrate.”
“Where to?”
“London, Paris, Berlin—anywhere within a six–hundred–mile radius because that's as much fuel as will fit in the tank.”
“You're taking the chopper?”
“Why not? Time I used it for our fun, not just everyone else's.”
I picture Seb's disapproving face when he hears of this. But even Seb can't deny that Alex's helicopter business has turned a tidy three hundred percent profit this year which is more than we can say for the eco–farming business, even if that's a somewhat unfair comparison. “Oh God, that's brilliant! Let's do it.”
Laughing, he pulls me into his chest. He's heaving in time with my own rapid breathing. “So, grab your passport, Lady.”
But I'm more interested in grabbing him. I let the box fall onto the bed and my hands grapple at his waistband, pulling up the shirt, running my fingers feverishly along the smooth muscle of his lower abdomen.
Alex groans and clutches my hips. “Paris can wait?”
I nod. “Berlin too.”
“We'll do the whole damn world on our honeymoon—”
“Oooh, lots of galleries,” I murmur.
“And fuck in every capital city.”
“You sure are one cocky duke.”
He smirks. “I was perfectly innocent until you came along.”
While we're laughing, and kissing and getting naked, it becomes clear to me that it doesn't matter where we go or what we do. No gallery or tourist attraction can compete with the sheer feeling of joy that this man brings to my life. We could honeymoon in the castle dungeons and I'd still be happy. Of course, I don't mention this him in case he thinks it's a great idea and wants to try it for a laugh. Because that would be so Alex.
“Let's worry about the honeymoon later and actually get married first,” I suggest as we sink, spent, across the bed after a very fast and wild session of consummating our engagement.
“Soon?” he asks trailing a finger between my breasts.
“Hell, yes.”
“Well, it's June now. We've kind of missed the season.”
“Season's not over til end of August.” I'm easing the ring out if its silky padding in the box now, something I forgot to do in my excitement. Of course it fits perfectly. The big rock glints dazzlingly under the candlelight. The sight of it sitting on my middle finger makes me feel dizzy. It's probably worth more than my father's house back in Laxby and all our belongings inside it.
“Is it okay?”
“That's one word for it.”
Alex hooks a finger under my chin, tilting me up to meet his gaze. “Hey, no freaking out on me, all right? A lady needs a ring. Duke's orders.”
“Actually, Alex,” I lean my cheek into his palm and gaze deeply into his wolf–like eyes. “All I need is you.”
Want to know how the saga continues?
Seb's story is next! Yes, you'll find out more about the mysterious older brother who's been AWOL throughout this book. Now that he's back, will he try to grab all power back from Alex and how will all that play out if Alex has a new sense of purpose in his life? Or is it possible that Seb might have softened? And if so, who is the woman who's managed to tame him? (Hint: she's someone we know!)
...It's Mara! Yes, Hayley's best friend manages to get sucked into the vortex that is the Belgrave family with all its aristocratic complexity and inter-generational friction. Find out how this unlikely couple meet and enjoy the fireworks that result in two hot-headed characters battling for their rights to be respected by everyone around them...and each other.
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Thanks for reading. Readers like you mean everything to me.
Sara x
