She drank him in. The coal-dark eyes, thick fierce eyebrows, the sensitive mouth, the uncompromising jaw.
A sense of power swept through her. She’d dealt with Ricky; she’d dealt with Oscar.
And now she was going to deal with Lucas.
‘Any plans, this evening?’ she asked, making sure that her voice came out evenly.
He shook his head.
‘Join me for dinner?’
He nodded.
‘It’s all prepared.’
‘I’ll shower and change. Flybridge?’
She tried to sound nonchalant. ‘My cabin. At seven.’
For several seconds he just looked. Then he smiled, a knowing, anticipatory smile. ‘I’ll bring the wine.’
Exactly on seven o’clock, a knock fell on Elle’s cabin door. She’d showered, put on a short strappy dress and dried her hair into a smooth fall down her back. She waited four beats before answering the door, and found Lucas with wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. She stepped back to allow him into the small space. The last of the golden light filtered in through the skylights.
There was no room for a table in the cabin so she’d set a couple of trays in the middle of the bed. It was an odd place to choose to eat dinner but it was symbolic. An invitation into her space
Her mind had been flirting with the scenario, buzzing with possibilities. She half expected him to make an early move, to kiss her or hold her, to assure himself that she was on the menu.
But Lucas just went to one side of the bed and waited politely while she climbed on and got comfortable against the headboard before settling himself, cross-legged, at right angles to her.
They ate, chatting desultorily about Dive Meddi and Nicholas Centre. Elle told him about Oscar. ‘Could you give Polly a heads-up?’
He looked grim. ‘I’ll see her tomorrow.’
When the meal was finished, they carried the trays out to the galley.
This time when they returned to the master cabin, Lucas propped himself against the headboard and stretched his legs out alongside Elle’s as he topped up their wine glasses.
‘I’ve been thinking about the owning up thing,’ he said.
‘Oh?’ Elle put her glass down beside the bed.
Slowly, he nodded. ‘I need to own up about something.’
A curly, whirly unpleasantness took possession of Elle’s stomach. ‘W-what?’
‘Two things, in fact.’ He took a long draught from his wine glass and reached out to lodge it on the niche that stood in place of a bedside table. ‘I was – am – too inclined to see things as either right or wrong.’
She licked her lips. They were as dry as if she’d been out in the wind all day. ‘S-some people would see having strong convictions as a good thing.’
‘Not when it means the girl I love can’t tell me about things that aren’t even her fault because she thinks I’ll judge her. Not when we’re being threatened and she protects me by letting me drive her away.’
Tears started at the back of her eyes. ‘What’s the other thing?’
He reached out and touched her face. ‘I never fell out of love with you. Never stopped wanting you. When Simon set this whole thing up, I went through the motions of being furious but it was to hide the fact that I could have shouted with joy. He’d given me a second chance.’
Her heart gave an enormous thump. ‘We could— we could thank him later.’ She turned her face and kissed his palm.
His breath came out in a rush. He half-dragged her onto his lap and, when her head threatened to brush the ceiling, scooted down the bed, clasping her against him until they were lying full length, her on top, and her dress somewhere near her waist.
He groaned as his searching hands found her bare legs. ‘I did own up about the wanting you bit?’
She kissed his jawline and then his neck, rubbing herself against him. ‘I would have worked it out.’
He stopped. ‘I have a whole load more stuff to own up to.’
She too, stilled. ‘What?’
He rolled suddenly so that she was beneath him, eyes gleaming up into his. ‘I want you out of that dress. I want to be inside you. I want to move back into this cabin. I want to be with you.’
‘All night?’ She lifted her head to taste his lips.
‘All my life.’
Lucas’s fingers found the zipper to her dress. Then he paused. A distant alarm bell rang.
He’d got things wrong before.
This time he was going to get things right.
He pulled back slightly so that he could look into her face.
Her eyes sprang open, wide with alarm. ‘What?’
‘You are the most desirable woman on the planet.’
‘Oh!’ She flushed. ‘I—’
‘I love you.’ He kissed her softly. ‘I want to spend my life with you. I want to sleep with you, wake up with you, live with you, love you, argue with you and laugh with you. I don’t care where we live; I don’t care what anybody else thinks about us. I just want you. Elle, will you marry me?’
Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Yes,’ she whispered.
He wiped away a tear with one fingertip. ‘We’ll have the wedding you want, big or small, wherever you want.’
She gave a watery smile. ‘Thank you.’
He stroked back her hair. ‘As long as it’s soon.’
‘Soon,’ she agreed. Her eyes began to dance. ‘Good proposal, by the way.’
He tightened his arms, loving having them full of Elle. ‘I thought I must be able to do better than “pretty ordinary”.’
Epilogue
To: Elle.Jamieson
From: Simon.Rose
Subject: :-)
Whenever the wedding is, wherever the wedding is, I will be there.
Much love,
Simon xxx
PS Told you. Told you. TOLD YOU! Ha! I was right. I knew it. Ha.
To: Simon.Rose
From: Elle.Jamieson
Subject: :-)
If you’re going to be unbearable about it, we might uninvite you! xxx
To: Elle.Jamieson
From: Simon.Rose
Subject: :-)
I’ll let you honeymoon on the Shady Lady.
To: Simon.Rose
From: Elle.Jamieson
Subject: :-) :-) :-)
In that case, your wedding invitation is in the post!!!
Elle and Lucas
About the Author
Sue Moorcroft is an accomplished writer of novels and short stories, as well as a creative writing tutor. She’s also the fiction judge at Writers’ Forum and a regular guest on Sue Dougan’s Chat Room at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. The Wedding Proposal is Sue’s seventh novel with Choc Lit. Her others include: Starting Over, All That Mullarkey, Want to Know a Secret?, Love & Freedom, Dream a Little Dream and Is This Love?. She also has a novella, Darcie’s Dilemma, published on the Choc Lit Lite imprint and this is available online. Love & Freedom won the Festival of Romance Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was shortlisted for the 2013 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.
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But it’s Cleo who has to pick up the pieces – of a marriage based on a lie and the lasting repercussions of that night. Torn between laid-back Justin and control-freak Gav, she’s a free spirit that life is trying to tie down. But the rewards are worth it!
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Winner of the Festival of Romance Best Romantic Read Award 2011
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