‘I’m sorry,’ she said again, meekly. ‘Did I ruin your big declaration?’
Colour came into his pale face and his arms slid down around her waist, and suddenly the rich humour was back in his eyes. ‘Yes, you did. So I guess I’ll have to do it all over again. Jennifer, darling...?’
‘Yes, Rafe?’
He smiled warmly. ‘Will you come to London and marry me and have more of my babies?’
She almost slid through the bracelet of his arms, and her stomach swooped, but her love sustained her to accept his teasing.
‘Rafe, I’ve said I’m sorry. I understand why you feel the way you do about marriage,’ she said quietly. ‘You once asked me to see you as you—well, I do. And it’s you I love. The way you are...’ She smiled back mischieviously. ‘Hang-ups and all. As long as I know you love me too. I don’t need the piece of paper—’
‘But maybe I need it,’ he said. ‘It gave me a shock to realise how possessive I felt about you and the baby, how outraged at the thought of not being allowed to be part of your life. I’m not going to let my father’s mistakes rule my life and manipulate my thinking. I have nothing to prove any more—except my love to you.’
She put her finger across his warm lips. ‘You don’t have to prove anything, or to bribe me with a wedding ring. I respect your word, Rafe, whatever promise you give me is enough.’
He nipped her finger. ‘Then I promise I’ll love you for the rest of my life; I promise I’ll never be unfaithful to you; I promise I’ll never leave you; I promise I’ll never abuse your trust or lie to you, or our children; I promise to cherish and protect you and even, on occasions, to obey.’
She shook her head, tears of love pricking her eyes. ‘And how do you know you can keep them all?’
‘Because now I have something I’ve lacked all these years. Faith. You’ve given that to me, Jennifer. Faith in my own character—faith to know when the right woman finally comes along—faith in my love for my woman and hers for me—faith in the life and the future we can create together.’
She linked her arms around his neck, going on tiptoe to touch her mouth to his in loving homage and enjoying his heady response. ‘Who would have thought when Sebastian arranged for me to have my baby that this would happen?’ she sighed.
‘Who indeed?’ he murmured, so drily that she tilted her face up with a frown.
‘What?’ She saw the answer in his face and her jaw dropped. ‘You think he planned for this to happen?’
‘Well, I don’t know about this exactly.’ He nudged her with his hips, enjoying her sudden flush. ‘But he certainly did his best to get us entangled in as many ways as he could after he was gone, didn’t he? Maybe he hoped propinquity and nature would do the rest.’
Jennifer glanced over her shoulder at the mountain, smouldering quietly against a hazy blue sky. ‘Well, nature certainly played its part.’ She dimpled.
‘But propinquity was the best bit,’ he said, kissing her to prove it.
‘What are we going to tell my mother?’ she wondered ruefully when she surfaced.
He grinned. ‘Nothing. She’s happy we’re husband and wife, so let’s leave it that way—unless you want a big, flashy wedding?’ He laughed when Jennifer shook her head frantically; she just wanted their lives together to start a
s quickly and smoothly and quietly as possible. ‘Maybe after we give her a third grandchild we might start dropping hints about the secret of our romantic past,’ he suggested.
‘Romantic!’ Jennifer rolled her eyes. ‘You mean tormented and torrid!’
‘That too. Speaking of which...’ He scooped her up in his arms and began to carry her back to the house, looking down at her with the light of love and laughter in his eyes.
‘Well, Mrs Jordan, I think that after we turn our pretend marriage into the real thing we’ll have earned ourselves a real honeymoon. And I’ve got the perfect place for it...’
‘Oh?’ She heard the innocent note in his voice, and laughter was bubbling up from her throat even before he finished speaking.
‘Yes—I know this fantastic little remote and isolated spot on the banks of the mighty Amazon...!’