New Bay
Page 24
She stared back at him, her brain refusing to supply her mouth with the words she wanted to say.
“Emma! Lovely wedding, you look fabulous. Have you seen Posy?” Her new sister-in-law’s former employer bore down on her, and her opportunity to talk to Ian was lost. He’d gone before Aggie had even finished talking to her.
Emma slipped off her sandals and tossed them aside. Hitching up the front of her gown she went in search of Ian. Finally she found him in the garden at the back of the hotel. He’d escaped from the crowds inside to a small wooden seat surrounded by roses at the far end of the lawn. She might not have seen him if she hadn’t spotted the ice blue satin of his cravat amongst the pink blooms of the roses.
“Am I invading your hideout?” she asked when she reached him. Her heart thumped against the wall of her chest.
He shook his head and moved along the seat so there was room for her to join him. “You’re always welcome in my hideout.”
She perched on the end of the bench, her pulse skittering at his proximity. “You hadn’t used to say that when I wanted to join you and Noah in the treehouse when we were kids.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “Things can change, Emma.” He gazed into her eyes and a tiny prickle of fear ran through her. Was she making a fool of herself?
“The only thing that hasn’t changed is how I feel about you, Emma. I wasn’t going to say anything today but I can’t go on like this, not knowing. I love you. I’ve loved you for years but if you don’t feel the same way – don’t ever think you can feel the same way about me, then tell me now and we can try and forget this conversation ever happened.”
Tears prickled the backs of her eyes. “Oh Ian, I never thought.” She bit her lip, too emotional to continue until she’d regained control. Seeing the shadow cross his face, she took his hands in hers. “I’m trying to say I love you. You’re the other part of my whole.”
He stared at her for a moment before his expression lit up and his lips claimed hers. As he took her in his arms, Emma knew she was complete and her heart had come home. The man for her had been right there all along.
About the Author
Nell Dixon is a Black Country author, married to the same man for over twenty-five years she has three daughters, a tank of tropical fish and a cactus called Spike. Winner of the RNA’s prestigious Romance Prize in 2007 and 2010, she writes warm-hearted contemporary romance for a number of publishers in the US and the UK including Myrmidon Press, Samhain Publishing, Little Black Dress, Astraea Press, E-Scape Press and Freya’s Bower.
Astraea Press
Pure. Fiction.
www.astraeapress.com