She slipped her hands into his broad ones and it was like coming home. His fingers wrapped around hers and firmly squeezed, as if he never wanted to let her go. She had never seen his expression so tender. Had he changed his mind? Did he want to resume their fling? But how could she settle for a fling when she wanted the for ever fairy tale?
‘Can you forgive me for taking this long to realise what I should have seen a month ago?’ He swallowed, and then continued in the same hoarse tone. ‘I love you, my darling. I think I fell in love with you the first time we kissed. I’m so ashamed it’s taken me this long to understand how I feel. To even recognise how I feel.’
‘Oh, Lucas...’ Ruby flung herself at him so violently he almost lost his footing. His arms wrapped around her and held her tight, and it was just as well, for right then her heart was threatening to beat its way out of her chest in excitement and joy. ‘I’d given up hope that you could ever feel anything for me. I can’t believe you love me.’
Lucas tipped up her face so he could lock his gaze with hers. ‘Does that mean you love me too? I took a gamble, hoping you do. You didn’t say anything back at Rothwell Park the night of the wedding.’
‘Of course I love you.’ Ruby beamed up at him, so happy to be able to say it out loud at last. ‘I wanted to tell you then, but my pride got in the way.’
He cradled her face in his hands, his touch so gentle it melted her heart. ‘I think it was better that you didn’t. I needed to suffer a bit. More than a bit, to be honest. I’m not used to feeling so wrecked after a break-up. I’m usually the one who ends a relationship. So I put it down to a bad case of pique. I only realised today that it’s because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
Ruby looked at him with wide eyes. ‘Are you proposing?’
He gave a sheepish grin. ‘I guess I am... But not doing such a great job of it.’ He got down on one knee, holding her hands in his and looking up at her with an abundance of love. ‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife, my life partner, my soulmate, my everything?’
Ruby hauled him to his feet and threw her arms around him again. ‘Yes! How could I not want to marry you? You are the only man I could ever love. I think I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen. I can’t tell you how miserable I’ve been. There is no worse industry to work in than the weddings one when you’re nursing a broken heart.’
‘Oh, my poor, sweet darling.’ Lucas hugged her again, resting his chin on the top of her head. ‘I was miserable too. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t think straight. I was lonely, and aching for you the whole time, but I kept telling myself it was because you had ended our relationship, not me. I can’t believe I’ve wasted the last month thinking I didn’t feel anything serious about you.’
She looked up at him again. ‘You said you only realised today?’
‘I met my father this morning,’ Lucas said with a grimace. ‘It was like looking at myself in the future. He never made time for my mother, and nor does he for his present wife—who is about to become his ex-wife if he doesn’t take on board what I told him.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I told him that words are empty, that actions speak louder. That he can change if he wants to badly enough.’ He smiled crookedly and continued, ‘And then I realised what I was saying to him applied to me...that I was at risk of turning into him in the future. A too-busy man who goes from one broken relationship to the next. You see, constant busyness was my way of distracting myself from wanting the things I told myself I didn’t want. Love, commitment, a family. It wasn’t until I lost my sight that I had to stop and take stock. And I hated every second of it. That’s why I was such a brooding bear that day you came to the library at Rothwell Park and asked me about Delphine’s wedding. I could no longer hide behind my overpacked diary and my big moneymaking projects all over the globe. I was stripped down to my most basic, and it scared the freaking hell out of me.’
Ruby stroked his lean jaw and smiled up at him. ‘I kind of like you stripped down to your most basic.’
He grinned wolfishly at her. ‘We’ll get to that in a minute. But first let me tell you how wonderful it is to see you. You’re still a little blurry, but I can see the sparkle in your beautiful eyes. I can even see the new freckles on your cute nose.’
He lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss that spoke of deep, abiding love. A love that she could trust, that she could depend on, that she could rely on no matter what.
Lucas lifted his mouth from hers and smiled down at her with his eyes shining. ‘I really should have called in on your gran to ask her permission for your hand in marriage. What do you think she’s going to say about us getting married?’
‘She’ll probably have a heart attack,’ Ruby said. ‘I didn’t even tell her about our fling. I wanted to, but I couldn’t bear the lecture I’m sure she would have given me.’
‘She’ll be happy for us,’ Lucas said. ‘She’ll be happy you’ve found the love of your life and happy I have too.’
‘Is that how you really see me? As the love of your life?’
‘I didn’t think it was possible to be this happy. I was always terrified of getting too close to anyone in case they left. I think it’s something I learned from my parents. Watching the repeated train wrecks of their relationship made me shy of getting into an intimate relationship where I had little or no control.’ He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. ‘But you, my beautiful girl, changed everything. You brought light to my darkness. You unpicked the lock on my heart. You gave me the motivation to change and I can’t thank you enough for that. Remember when you said that often the thing people try to avoid is the very thing they need to face to grow as a person? I realised I needed to stop shying away from loving someone. And that someone, I am thrilled to say, is you.’
Ruby gazed up at him with love and adoration. ‘I love you with all my heart. I can’t wait to be your wife. I still can’t quite believe this is happening. It’s like a miracle.’
‘I said once to you that I didn’t believe in magic or miracles, but you are both to me. You’ve shown me what it’s like to feel whole. To embrace emotion instead of hiding from it or pretending it’s something else.’
‘I was so frightened I would spend the rest of my life without you,’ Ruby said. ‘I was trying hard to move on, but I couldn’t. It was impossible to think of a future without you in it.’
‘We’ll have a great future because we’ve both learned from the past. Not everyone does. Let’s promise each other we’ll work through stuff together, never give up on each other.’
‘I promise with all my heart.’
Lucas brought his mouth back down close to hers. ‘I love you and I will always be there for you.’
And he sealed his promise with a kiss that left her in no doubt of his heartfelt commitment.