‘Ecstatic,’ she said.
‘Bien, because I have a suggestion,’ he said.
‘What is it?’ she asked, loving the mischievous glint in his eyes. She certainly hoped his suggestion involved them both getting naked as soon as possible.
But then he surprised her.
‘That we both take the next week off. It is way past time we had a honeymoon. Can you do it?’ he asked.
‘Absolutely,’ she said without hesitation, because she couldn’t think of anything more wonderful. It would mean rearranging her schedule, postponing the interviews she had lined up, getting her team to handle the European launch, but they’d already done a ton of advance publicity, and she trusted them.
‘Where would you like to go?’ he said. ‘Name anywhere in the world and I will take you.’
‘Honestly? I can choose anywhere?’ she said, knowing there was only one place she wanted to go. And one person she wanted to be with.
Over the past year, her wanderlust had been sated a hundred times over. Ever since that night in Rome, when they had committed to making this a real marriage, life had been a roller coaster as she’d set up her business and his had continued to expand. They’d worked overtime to make this marriage work but it had meant shoehorning snippets of quality time in between all their other commitments. Each moment they’d spent alone together had been precious and wonderful and important...
But a whole week felt like a banquet, a banquet she didn’t want to squander on sightseeing, or shopping, or elaborate meals in fancy hotels.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Wherever you want to go, it is your choice.’
‘Okay, then I want to go home to London, shut the doors, turn off our phones and the Internet, tell everyone we’ve gone to Outer Mongolia and just stay there, with you, for a week. I want us to watch slushy movies together, cook all our favourite foods, have sex in every room and finally get around to celebrating all the birthdays of yours that we’ve missed.’
They’d celebrated his thirtieth birthday that summer and the memory of the particularly inventive way he’d found to devour the chocolate cake she’d baked him still made her blush.
Even so, she held her breath, wondering if he would object. Dominic was an active, driven over-achiever; getting him to sit still for long was never easy. But instead of objecting, he threw back his head and laughed. The sound was deep, and sexy and—was that relief she could hear?
Reaching across the seat to cup her cheek and pull her towards him, he whispered across her mouth. ‘I like your thinking, Madame LeGrand. But I’m not sure we have enough bedrooms—there are twenty-nine birthdays to catch up on, after all.’ Running a hand under her dress, he found the melting heart of her. ‘But do not worry,’ he added as his mouth descended to seal the deal. ‘I can improvise.’
Happiness burst like a firework in her chest—not least because she knew exactly how good her husband was at improvising.
* * *