‘I’m going to stay on Sassania.’
‘That’s good.’
‘I think so.’ He sighed and shoved his hands through his hair. ‘You were right about that. It’s not just a job. It is my duty and my legacy, but apart from that I like it there. The people are good and I want to make things better.’
‘You will.’
‘Maybe. Who knows?’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway I should probably be getting back.’
He was leaving? Now? Just when things were getting interesting? No way. ‘When you said you were going to offer me all the things I’d just told you I didn’t want, what exactly did you mean?’
Matt froze. ‘Forget it,’ he said flatly.
She bit her lip. ‘No.’ She’d get to the bottom of what he was trying to say if it was the last thing she did. And knowing his reluctance to talk, it could well be the last thing she did. ‘I don’t want to forget it. I want you to tell me what you meant.’
‘Fine,’ he said, his whole body shaking with something that had her heart pounding crazily. ‘I love you. I want to marry you. I want to take you back to Sassania and make lots of little Sassanian babies with you. I want you to restore your house so we can spend our summers there. I won’t stifle you. Or suffocate you. You can do what you want. Be what you want. You’d never fade into the background. It would be impossible.’ He paused, shoved his hands through his hair. ‘My life is empty and soulless without you, Laura. I’m sorry I let you leave like that. I’m sorry I was such an idiot. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to figure it out. But I love you. More than I ever thought possible.’
Laura reeled as the words tumbled out. ‘Oh.’
There was a pause. Matt frowned. ‘Oh?’ he echoed. ‘Is that all you have to say?’
‘No, no,’ she said faintly. ‘It’s just quite a lot to take in. I wasn’t expecting you to be quite so, um, communicative.’
‘I’ve been practising. You should have heard me the first time. You know how much I like talking about feelings.’
‘I do.’
‘Well, now I’m done.’ He frowned and a vulnerability flashed across his face that made her heart ache. ‘So what do you think?’
What did she think? She thought that if the happiness bubbling around inside her grew any bigger she’d burst. ‘I think that practice makes completely perfect.’
Matt let out a breath. ‘Then in that case do you think you can put me out of my misery and tell me how you feel about me?’
Laura smiled. ‘I love you. But you already knew that, didn’t you?’
He crossed the room, gathered her in his arms and crushed her against him. ‘I had hoped. God, I’d hoped. But then when I got that email saying you didn’t want the house…’ His mouth twisted.
She laid her hand against his cheek and traced his mouth with her thumb until the twist became a smile. ‘I didn’t know what it meant. I thought it might be a tax break.’
Matt’s eyebrows shot up. ‘A tax break? I’m not that complicated.’
Not that complicated? Who was he kidding? ‘Or a sign that I should find what I’ve been looking for with someone else, or something.’
‘Don’t even think about it. If you marry me, I’ll make it my life’s mission to give you everything you want.’
‘Oh, well, when you put it like that, how could I refuse?’
His mouth came down on hers and Laura sank into his kiss. Her arms wound round his neck and their mouths fused together so fiercely, so completely, their hearts hammering so closely that she didn’t know where she stopped and he started. By the time Matt lifted his head desire was thumping around her and her whole body felt weak.
‘So a relationship, huh?’ said Laura, leaning back and looking up at him once she’d got her breath back.
‘I know,’ Matt murmured, his eyes dark and warm and filled with love. ‘And not just a relationship. Marriage. Who’d have
thought?’
‘Not scared any more?’
‘Terrified, actually.’