A crooked smile formed on his lips and the spark she loved so well was back in his dark blue eyes. ‘I’ve missed you so much. I can’t believe it has taken me so long to realise this, but I love you.’
Those three little words hung in the air for a long moment because Harper couldn’t decide whether he had actually said them or she had imagined he had.
‘Pardon?’
His smile widened and he dropped the bag he was holding and reached for her, taking her by the hands and drawing her close. ‘My darling girl, I’ve been such a damn fool. I think I fell in love with you that first night at the Tenterbury wedding. You caught my eye and you captured my heart. I love you with all of my being. I have fought it, resisted it, denied it, but I can do so no longer. I can’t be the man I want to be, the man I was meant to be, without you by my side. Will you please think again about becoming my wife? Please?’
Harper stared at him speechlessly, her heart thudding so excitedly in her chest until she was sure her ribcage would be bent out of shape or permanently damaged. ‘You’re not pretending to be in love with me so I will agree to marry you?’
‘No, darling. I was pretendingnotto be in love with you all these months,’ Jack said. ‘Pretending to you, pretending to my mother, but, most foolishly of all, pretending to myself. I’ve always thought loving someone was a dangerous thing to do. I watched my mother love my father and it always seemed so one-sided to me. But she has no regrets about that. She was all in from the moment they met and she never stopped loving him, even when his illness changed him. I want to be loved like that. I want to love like that. Idolove you like that.’
Harper wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her face to be kissed. ‘Kiss me, Jack. Convince me this is really happening.’
Jack placed his mouth on hers and kissed her deeply, holding her so close she could feel every firm plane of his body. A few breathless minutes later, he pulled back to gaze down at her with so much love shining in his eyes it took her breath away. ‘No one has ever made me feel the way you do. It’s not just about having Marli. I would have fallen in love with you even if she hadn’t come along the way she did. It’s why I couldn’t date anyone else. I didn’t want to feel anyone else’s touch in case it made me forget yours. I guess that’s why my mother has never dated anyone since my father died. I want us to grow old together, to bring up our little family. We will face whatever we have to face together. There are no guarantees that we won’t be touched by tragedy or illness, but I promise to be there for you no matter what.’
‘Oh, Jack, I can think of nothing I would love more than to be your wife and partner in life,’ Harper said. ‘I’ve been hungry for love all my life but, like you, I pretended for so long that I didn’t want it because I was protecting myself from disappointment in case I couldn’t have it. Meeting you that night at the wedding turned my world upside down, not just because of getting pregnant, because I didn’t even realise that had happened. But also because I knew if I allowed myself to fall in love with you, I would be opening myself up to certain heartbreak. You were a playboy. I was a career girl who wanted no complications in my life—I’d had enough of them in my childhood. But I fell in love with you anyway. I couldn’t help it.’
Jack kissed her soundly again, his mouth so tender and yet so passionate it made her blood sing in her veins. He lifted his lips off hers and looked down at her with twinkling eyes. ‘I was sitting at the airport in Brussels because my flight was delayed. I saw all these loving couples and families walking past—old ones, young ones and everything in between. It really made me think about why I was avoiding love. It made me realise that before you my life was empty of everything but work. My relationships were shallow and temporary and completely transactional. You’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to commit to. You opened my heart, my love, and I can’t thank you enough.’
Harper’s heart was so full of joy she could barely speak. She placed her hand on the side of his stubbly face and gazed into the midnight-blue of his eyes. ‘My love for you is so deep and all-consuming it will take me a lifetime to show you.’
He smiled down at her. ‘A lifetime sounds good.’ He bent down and picked up the toy shop bag. ‘I bought this for you in Brussels.’
Harper took the bag from him and pulled out a teddy bear. ‘I thought that must’ve been for Marli.’
‘No, it’s for you to replace the one you lost.’
Harper turned the bear over and found a gold key in its back. She turned it a few times and the sweet cadences of her favourite lullaby filled the air and filled her heart with even more love for this sensitive man who had made her dreams come true. ‘Oh, Jack, it’s so sweet of you. I missed that bear for years.’
He gathered her close again, the bear crushed between them. ‘I missed you more than I can say. I kept searching for you in my sleep, only to wake up bitterly disappointed.’
She gazed up at him. ‘I missed you too. So very much.’
‘I was at the London house the other day,’ Jack said with a crooked smile. ‘It’s like me—it still needs a bit of work, but I think it will be fine in the end.’
‘I can’t wait to see it. I’ve never lived in a proper house before.’ She stroked the length of his strong nose and added, ‘I have a confession to make.’
‘What?’
Harper smiled. ‘I’ve fallen a little bit in love with your mother as well.’
‘Have you really?’
‘She’s been amazing while you’ve been away. She’s going to help me with Marli so I can get back to work part-time. I feel comfortable leaving Marli with her because she loves her so much.’
‘Oh, my darling, I’m so glad,’ Jack said. ‘That’s such wonderful news.’
‘Jack...will you promise me something?’
‘Anything, my darling.’
‘Will you promise to paint me a picture? I would love to be the first person to own a Jack Livingstone watercolour.’
His eyes lit up and a wide smile spread across his face. ‘It’s a deal. I’ll bring some brushes and paints on our honeymoon. Who knows what fun that could be?’
‘The paints and brushes or the honeymoon?’
‘Both.’ He bent down to plant a kiss on her lips.
‘Waa-waa-waa!’ came Marli’s piercing cry from the bedroom.
Jack grinned and released Harper. ‘I almost forgot I have something to say to our baby girl.’ He took her hand and led her to where Marli was wide awake and wailing in her bassinet.
Jack reached down and scooped the baby out, and she immediately stopped crying and blinked up at him with eyes the same colour as his.
‘I love you, little one. Your daddy loves you so much.’ He smiled at Harper and added, ‘And I love your beautiful mummy too, more than words can ever say.’