It took her a moment to find her voice. ‘You love me?’
‘Yes. And until I met you I’d given up on ever loving a woman the way my father loved my mother.’
‘Love?’ She still couldn’t believe she was hearing him correctly. ‘You’re offering me love?’
‘What did you think? Why do you think I want us to be together?’
She blushed awkwardly. ‘I suppose—sex?’
‘You think a man would only ever be interested in you for sex? You are clearly unaware of the many qualities you possess,’ he said softly, and then smiled. ‘The fact that you’re an incredibly exciting woman is a bonus.’
She was so overwhelmed she could hardly speak. ‘Qualities? Many qualities? No one has ever said anything like that to me before.’
‘Well, get used to it, because I’ll be saying it all the time,’ he drawled. ‘I want a great deal more than sex from you, agape mou. I am a very ambitious man. I want everything. And I want to give you everything in return. In time I’m even hoping that you’ll let me spoil you in a material way, but if your business takes off the way I know it will, you will be able to spoil yourself under my direction.’
‘I can’t believe you’re saying this. I love you too,’ she mumbled, burying her face in his chest. ‘I really do. I think I loved you from the first moment I saw you.’
‘I know you did.’ He shrugged. ‘How could you not?’
Half-laughing, half-crying, she tilted her head to look at him. ‘Arrogant.’
‘Confident.’ Supremely sure of himself, he smiled down at her. ‘So? Will you make my father a happy man and marry me?’
She gave a choked laugh of disbelief. ‘You thought I was a gold-digger.’
‘It was a natural assumption for a man in my position. You have to understand that my father’s last two wives both fitted that description…’ He hesitated. ‘And I once had a similar experience myself.’
‘You did?’
‘I was just eighteen and I thought she cared about me.’ He shrugged. ‘Fortunately for me I discovered the truth about her before too much damage was done, but it was a lesson that I didn’t forget.’
‘You were hurt?’
‘Honestly?’ He gave a wry smile. ‘My ego was more bruised than my heart, because I was forced to acknowledge that I wasn’t all things to all women. But it did teach me to be wary.’
‘I understand that. And I don’t blame you for thinking that about me.’
‘I did not think it for long. And my father never thought it. He loved you from that first moment.’
‘At that ball in Paris—someone recognised me from my old boarding school. She came over, and I was so horrified that I couldn’t speak. Your father rescued me and sent her packing. I couldn’t believe he would do that for a stranger. I fell in love with him on sight. No one had ever done something like that for me before.’ She smiled up at him. ‘What do you think he will say when you tell him?’
‘He will be delighted.’ His arms tightened around her. ‘It’s just as well I saw you first, or I think he might have made you his fourth wife.’
‘I love him.’ Her smiled faded as she gazed into his breathtakingly handsome face. ‘I kidded myself that I was only staying for your father’s sake, but it wasn’t true. I was staying because I couldn’t bear to leave you.’
‘And you’re not going to leave me ever again.’ He lowered his head and kissed her gently. ‘I love you.’
‘I can’t believe you don’t care who I am—’
‘I love who you are. You are gentle and good and soon you will also be confident.’
She pulled a face. ‘I can’t imagine ever being confident.’
‘With me loving you, how could you not be? We will work on it together.’
‘Zouvelekis Couture…’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘You want my business to have your name?’
‘Soon it will be your name too, and everyone will know that you are my wife.’