“Oh! What a handsome man!” her mother exclaimed, surprised and pleased.
“Definitely loaded with sex appeal,” Megan muttered.
Yes, he was. He really was, Peta thought, a little thrill of anticipation tingling through her. “Excuse me,” she said, and moved to meet him.
It would be all right...this marriage, she told herself fiercely. Any woman would be proud to have Matt Davis as her husband. And the sex would be good. No doubt about that. Best of all, he would give her the family she wanted because he wanted it, too.
A smile grew, lighting up her face and warming her soul as she walked towards the man who would be the father of her children.
Matt waited by the car, watching her come to him, too entranced to move forward himself. His chest felt as though it was fit to burst. She glowed. She outshone the rest of the world. Her smile sent tingles all the way to his toes. She was exotic and beautiful and everything he wanted in a woman. And she was his. Or soon would be.
The royal blue suit she wore moulded her curves with a sexy emphasis that had Matt fighting to control himself. The short skirt had temptation roaring through his head. Her long, lovely legs, shimmering in sheer black stockings, filled his mind with wildly erotic images. He wanted her so badly, it was all he could do to remind himself her family was watching and he didn’t have Peta to himself. Yet.
“Hi!” she said, her eyes warmly welcoming him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, nodding to her family, trying desperately to focus on what was important today.
Her smile turned wry. “I hope you’re up to an inquisition.”
He grinned. “Man of steel.”
It made her laugh. She had a lovely laugh, an infectious bubbly sound that seemed to dance through his heart. Matt looked forward to listening to it all his life.
“Maybe this will help,” he said, drawing the small velvet box from his trouser pocket.
She stared down at it as he handed it to her. Her fingers fumbled over opening it. The diamond ring seemed to mesmerise her. She didn’t exclaim over it. She didn’t move to put it on. She stood utterly still, and to Matt’s sharply scanning eyes, the colour drained out of her vivid face, leaving it oddly lifeless.
Alarm bells clamoured in his mind. Was the reality of their decision striking home to her? Would she back off, faced with this symbol of commitment? His whole being screamed to hold on to her. He acted, plucking the ring from its satin bed, taking her left hand in his.
“Allow me,” he said gruffly, determined on sealing their agreement.
The magnificent solitaire diamond winked mockingly at her. It felt as though a vice had clamped around her heart, squeezing it unmercifully. It should have been Giorgio giving her this. She’d dreamed of it so many times... Giorgio, taking her hand, sliding on his ring...
It was wrong...letting Matt Davis do it.
I can’t go through with this. I can’t...
But if I don’t...
Diamonds are forever...like children...solid, lasting dreams that could come true...
The ring settled into place.
Peta took a deep breath and looked up at the man who’d put it there, the man whose promises weren’t empty, the man who wanted to stand by her, support her, whose strength she could lean on in the years ahead when they had their family.
“I’ll be a good wife to you, Matt,” she whispered.
Tears filming her eyes. Did a ring mean so much? Matt didn’t understand. But he felt her giving herself to him and he forgot they were being watched by her family. Only she existed for him. He lifted her hands to his shoulders, wrapped his arms around her waist, and did what he needed to do.
He kissed her.
The apprehension that had seized him was swept away by an intoxicating rush of passion, flowing as fiercely from Peta as it did from him, and Matt exulted in it, loving the way her mouth responded to his, loving the feel of her body sinking against him, her wonderful soft breasts, her stomach, her thighs...his woman.
“Matt...” A feathering gasp against his lips, intensely sensual.
“Mmh...” Excitement pulsing through him.