by Lucy King
Jack glanced at her and gave her the glimmer of a smile. ‘Flying to New York, I should think.’
Her heart slowly turned over. ‘But why?’ Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence. Surely fate wouldn’t be so cruel.
‘Why don’t you sit down?’
Imogen stayed standing, mainly because she was so thrown by his presence she didn’t know what to do. ‘I’m not sure I want to spend the next eight hours sitting next to you,’ she said, and it wasn’t entirely a lie.
But to her astonishment Jack merely grinned and folded himself into his seat. ‘No?’ he said, glancing up at her and then turning his attention to his seat belt. ‘Oh, well, if you want to go back to economy be my guest.’
How did he know where she’d intended to sit? Imogen frowned. ‘Are you responsible for my upgrade?’
‘Yes.’
Telling herself not to read anything into it because what with the way her brain was disintegrating she’d only get it wrong, she said, ‘Thank you. I think.’
‘You’re welcome. I was hoping to have the pleasure of your company for the flight, but if you really don’t want to sit here, that’s fine.’ He flashed her a smile. ‘After all, what’s eight hours when we have the rest of our lives?’
For a moment Imogen thought she must have misheard because Jack had turned his attention to a magazine and was now idly flicking through it as if he had no idea he’d just rocked her world. ‘What?’ she said, sinking into her seat when her legs finally gave way. ‘What did you say?’
‘Shh,’ he murmured as a faint whirring noise came from the flickering screens embedded into the seat backs in from of them. ‘It’s the safety demonstration. Pay attention.’
Pay attention, thought Imogen dazedly. Pay attention? How could she possibly pay any attention to anything when bewilderment and shock were taking up every molecule of her brain? She’d thought that the terrible effect relentless misery had had on her heart and her appearance was bad enough, but it appeared that her reason had also suffered because for the life of her she couldn’t work out what Jack could possibly mean.
Or could she?
Her heart began to thump. Did she dare hope—?
No. She could stop that kind of thinking right now because she couldn’t afford to get it wrong again. He was probably flying to New York on business.
She was so busy trying to remain calm and convince herself that this was indeed the case that she was barely aware of the engines roaring into life, or the air stewards drifting down the cabin to check seat belts. And she was even less aware of taking off.
‘I love planes, don’t you?’
What? Imogen blinked and noticed with some surprise that they were in the air and climbing. She swallowed to make her ears pop and wished she could do the same to her brain, because what was he talking about now? ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ she muttered.
‘You should, because you know the best thing about them?’
‘I can’t imagine.’
‘There’s no escape.’
Imogen twisted round to face him, her eyebrows lifting. ‘And that’s a good thing?’ She wasn’t so sure.
‘I think so. Even better, there’s absolutely no possibility of anyone storming off.’
She went still. Oh. This wasn’t a conversation about a love of planes. This had subtext. Her senses switched to high alert and her heart began to pound. ‘Good point.’
‘Thank you. In fact,’ he added, turning to look at her, ‘as neither of us is going anywhere for quite a while, we have plenty of time to hammer this out.’
Something about the intensely serious look in his eye made her mouth go dry. ‘Hammer what out?’ she said a little breathlessly.
‘You and me and those assumptions and misconceptions we seem to specialise in.’
Imogen swallowed hard. ‘Wouldn’t a phone call have sufficed?’
‘Definitely not.’
‘Oh. Well. Like you said, I’m a captive audience. Hammer away.’
Jack shifted in his seat to lean closer to her, and as the familiar scent of him hit her brain, she went dizzy. ‘Imogen, I’m sorry about the offer I made. It was crass and stupid. You were right. A long-distance relationship isn’t the answer. At least not for us.’
Yes, it is! she suddenly wanted to yell, but clamped a lid on the urge. ‘I understand why you made it,’ she said instead and took pride in her mature approach.
He tilted his head, the gleam in his eye turning quizzical. ‘I don’t think you do.’
‘No?’
‘No. You know, you were wrong when you accused me of being afraid of commitment.’
Her heart thundered as the hope she’d been struggling to contain suddenly broke free. ‘I was?’
He nodded. ‘I might have had a few issues with rejection and abandonment and things but I’m not afraid of commitment per se. In fact,’ he added with a slow smile, ‘I’ve recently discovered I’m all for it.’
‘That’s great,’ she said warily.
‘It is, isn’t it?’ He paused. ‘But not to just anyone.’
‘No? Well, imagine what would happen to your reputation …’ She tailed off because she was riddled with so much hope and longing and yearning for him she couldn’t think straight any more.
‘I don’t give a damn about my reputation. Or my many issues. I’ve spent far too long focusing on both. The only thing I’m interested in right now is you.’
Imogen’s stomach swooped as if the plane had plunged a thousand feet. ‘Me?’
‘That’s right.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Here’s the thing, Imogen. When I said I cared about you I should have been more specific.’
‘In what way?’ she said, but it came out almost as a whisper.
‘What I should have said is that I love you.’
He looked deep into her eyes and she went dizzy. ‘You love me?’ she echoed, barely able to believe it.
Jack nodded and gave her the ghost of a smile. ‘To distraction. I have done for weeks. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.’
‘So why didn’t you?’ She thought of all the misery she’d had to endure and her chest tightened.
He shrugged. ‘When you said you couldn’t trust me, it kind of blindsided me. I didn’t know what to do.’
Guilt spun through her and Imogen knew that she’d deserved every second of that misery. ‘I’m so sorry about that,’ she said, her cheeks reddening with shame. ‘I didn’t mean it. I was hurting and it was a cheap but easy shot.’
‘And I’m sorry I hurt you.’ He reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and her pulse jumped. ‘Nevertheless you had a point,’ he said softly. ‘This is all new for me, Imogen, and I’ll probably screw up even more disastrously and more frequently than I have already. But I promise you, if you’ll let me, I’ll figure it out. And I’ll prove you can trust me. Every day.’
Her heart turned over. ‘Every day?’
He nodded. ‘Long weekends and holidays wouldn’t be enough, would they?’
She shook her head and sighed. ‘Not nearly.’
‘That’s what I figured. Which is why I’m moving to New York, too.’
Imogen’s breath caught in her throat as the love she’d been keeping at bay crashed through her defences and rushed into her. ‘Really?’ she said as an unstoppable smile spread across her face.
‘Really. I’m opening an office there and I’ve even been thinking about getting in touch with my father.’
‘Wow,’ she said, because it was all she could manage. ‘You’ve been busy.’
‘Yes, well, both are about time. And incidental.’ He paused, then said, ‘I just want to be with you, and if you’re going to be in New York then that’s where I want to be, too.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Surer than I’ve ever been of anything.’ He shot her a smile that made her heart expand. ‘Besides, you might meet that nice American you mentioned, and I can’t have that.’
With
all the love swelling up inside her, Imogen said fiercely, ‘There’s absolutely no danger of that happening.’
He arched an eyebrow. ‘No?’
She took a breath, put her hand on his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. ‘How could I possibly be interested in anyone else when I’m so in love with you?’
That devastating smile of his spread across his face, his eyes lit up and she nearly swooned at everything that blazed there. ‘God, I hoped you were.’
‘I am. Inescapably, it seems. And I’m sorry, too. For not realising sooner and for repeatedly turning you away.’ She ached at the memory of how blind she’d been. ‘And for wasting such a lot of time.’
Jack grinned. ‘Ah, well, you see, the good thing about wasting so much time is that there’s an awful lot of it to make up.’
With perfect timing the seat-belt sign pinged and before she knew what was happening, Jack had hauled her onto his lap and into his arms. ‘Starting now,’ he added, and pulled her against him.
Imogen laughed with delight, but when his mouth found hers and he kissed her with everything he felt her laughter died in her throat. She could feel his heart thundering in time with hers and she realised that, whatever else she wanted out of life, this was where she was meant to be. With Jack. In his arms. And she was never going to let him go again.
‘By the way,’ he murmured against her lips when they broke for air, ‘I realise that you won’t be wanting anything to distract you while you’re studying, but, I think I should let you know in advance, the minute you graduate I’ll be asking you to marry me.’
With her breathing all over the place, Imogen wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and went giddy with happiness. ‘Will you?’
‘It’s a promise.’
EPILOGUE
Three years later
ANY more of this awful tension, thought Imogen, and she’d explode. The restaurant was one of the best in New York, and the food was apparently sublime, but to be honest she’d barely taken any of it in.
And was it any wonder? How could she concentrate on food when all evening she’d felt as if she were sitting on knives?
‘Well?’ she said, looking at Jack and so about to burst with expectation that she was unable to stand it any longer.
Jack raised his eyebrows. ‘Well, what?’
‘I’ve just graduated,’ she said, because, despite the celebratory dinner, it might need pointing out.
‘And how.’ He lifted his glass, clinked it against hers and gave her a proud smile. ‘Top of the class. Congratulations. Again.’
‘Thanks.’ She nibbled on her lip. ‘So … Is that it?’
Jack set his glass down and grinned. ‘Only if you want it to be. If you didn’t want to take up the position on the board you were offered, you’d have your pick of jobs.’
Imogen resisted the urge to give him a sharp kick under the table. ‘That’s not what I meant.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Wasn’t it?’
‘No.’
‘Then what did you mean?’
Jack looked baffled, as if he genuinely didn’t have a clue what she was trying to get at, and her heart lurched.
Oh, God. Had he forgotten?
She stared at him as he gazed innocently back, her mind galloping. It had been three years since he’d made that promise on the plane, the one that had kept her going through the tough times when she’d struggled with her workload and had been tempted to throw it all in, but not once in all that time had he mentioned it again.
So what with time and the immense effort he’d put into establishing his business and working on his relationship with his father, he could well have forgotten.
Or been having second thoughts.
The high Imogen had been riding for days dipped for a moment and then she pulled herself together because, either way, she could hardly ask.
‘Oh, nothing,’ she said lightly, telling herself that it didn’t really matter anyway. She didn’t need a ring on her finger to know that Jack loved her. She had proof of it daily. ‘Forget it.’
Flashing him an overly bright smile, she twisted round and rummaged in the handbag that hung off her chair, hiding her face just in case the disappointment had made its way there.
‘You didn’t really think I had, did you?’
At the teasing warmth in his voice, Imogen stilled. Her heart skipped a beat and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. Slowly, she lifted her head and turned round to face him. Jack was smiling the smile that melted her bones every time and suddenly everything that had been all wobbly and blurry swam back into focus and settled.
‘Well, it has been a long time,’ she said, letting out the breath that she’d been holding as her heart started beating again.
‘Quite long enough.’ He tilted his head and held out his hand. ‘Is this what you were looking for?’
Her gaze dropped to the ring he was holding and she stared at the trilogy of diamonds flashing in the candlelight, her throat tightening with emotion and the backs of her eyes prickling. ‘I was actually looking for my lipstick,’ she said, and hiccupped.
Jack smiled gently. ‘You know, your sense of humour is just one of the many, many things I love about you. I love your determination, your resilience and your patience. I love the way you put up with my flaws and make me a better man.’ His smile turned wicked. ‘I particularly love that thing you do with your—’
‘Jack,’ she interrupted with mock horror, and glanced round to check that no one was listening.
He laughed, then sobered. ‘Imogen, darling,’ he said, getting up and moving round to kneel beside her chair. ‘I just adore you. Will you marry me?’
As happiness burst through her Imogen flung herself into his arms, smothered him in kisses and murmured, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’
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.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Lucy King 2012
ISBN: 978-1-408-97446-9
Table of Contents
Excerpt
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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Copyright
