‘Well, I believe he is due in Monaco at the end of the week. Why don’t you try him again then?’
Her heart soared.
Monaco. He would be there too?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. This is unbelievable. This is unbelievable.’
The same words had left her parents’ lips a hundred times over. But it was. The whole thing. From the first-class flights to Nice and the helicopter ride to Monaco to the limousine service, all accompanied by champagne, all with no expense spared.
And here she now stood. Not in a hotel room, but in the master quarters of a yacht, the magnitude of which she could scarcely believe.
Her parents were up top with the captain, soaking up the qualifying sessions currently tearing along the track. The sound of the engines thrumming through the air, they were that close, the track residing just the other side of the dock. It was the perfect position, a dream come true for her father.
But her dream was still hanging in the balance. She’d been crushed when a chauffeur had greeted them at the airport. Even though Daniel had made clear she would be met, she’d still hoped that it would have been by him.
Should she have texted him? Told him that she wanted to talk? That she wanted him to be here too? Or had she guessed wrongly? Maybe him being in Monaco hadn’t meant what she thought? Maybe he had no intention of actually calling on her?
No. No. No.
She strode across the vast room, straight to the bedside table where her phone was charging, and grabbed it up. She couldn’t debate his intent any longer; she needed to know; she needed to speak to him; she needed him here.
She launched her contact list and a tap at the door stalled her. She looked to it, her belly starting to flutter.
Would it be? Could it be?
Trance-like, she headed towards it. Not daring to let her excitement swell.
It swung open before she reached it and she froze to the spot, her knees weakening beneath her. Shock, surprise, joy, all overwhelming as Daniel filled the doorway.
* * *
‘Zara.’
Daniel’s entire world stood still; the sound of the ocean, the crew, the engines, all falling away, drowned out by the wild rush of blood in his ears, his heart slamming in his chest. He devoured the sight, her colourful presence calling to him among the backdrop of clean white and stealing his breath away.
She stepped towards him, her lips parting, her eyes glistening in the sunlight. ‘You are here?’
His lips quirked at the wonder in her soft-spoken observation. ‘I would have met you at the airport but I didn’t trust myself to keep it all in check in front of your parents.’
She smiled then, a gentle curve of her lips that filled him with warmth. ‘Keep what in check?’
‘My love for you.’
The words were so hushed he wondered if she’d heard him but then she suddenly came alive, sweeping across the room, her arms encasing him.
Kristus, yes.
He buried his head in her hair, breathing in her familiar scent as his arms wrapped tight around her.
‘I’m so happy to see you,’ she whispered, her cheek pressed against his chest.
‘And I you.’ He kissed the top of her hair, reality starting to sink in and in the best way possible. Did this mean she was starting to believe...? That she could also feel the same...?
He unhooked his arm from around her and sought out her chin, coaxing her to look up at him, the emotion in her gaze momentarily winding him.
He’d swear it was love that he saw. Please let it be love.