He sucked in a deep breath as he savored the feel of her skin. He’d been an idiot to wait as long as he had to come for her. But it had taken the past three weeks and several long, difficult conversations with his father, his mother, Adrian and even Everleigh to make him see sense.
“Do something incredibly romantic,” Everleigh had encouraged.
So he’d orderedThe Scarlet Pimpernelto make the crossing from Marseille to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and moor right in front of her aunt Norine’s ramshackle beachfront cottage. A storm had slowed their journey by a few hours so that instead of arriving just before sunset as he’d planned, they’d sailed in under the light of the moon. His captain had tried to discourage him from taking the dinghy out with the waves as high as they were, had offered to take the yacht to the nearest marina and call Alejandro a car. But the marina was an hour away by boat, and he hadn’t wanted to wait.
His pride smarted a little from getting tossed into the ocean. He’d envisioned striding up the beach with the confidence and swagger of Douglas Fairbanks, not a drowned rat. But it had been worth it to reach Calandra as soon as he could.
God, she was beautiful. Dark hair flowing past her shoulders, arms crossed over her belly, now slightly rounded and peeking out from beneath the hem of her shirt. The need to hold her, cradle her stomach and the life growing inside her, feel her curl into his body the way she had all those nights ago, almost overpowered him.
First things first. Apology. Explanation. More apology.
“I’m so sorry, Calandra.” He placed his forehead against hers, exhaled sharply when she didn’t pull away. Even if she pushed him into the ocean and told him she never wanted to see him again, he would savor every touch she allowed him. “That night onLa Reina, what you overheard was the first time my father and I have had a conversation about anything other than my behavior or business. He told me things about his affair that put it in a very different light. That rendered most of my life obsolete.”
Calandra leaned back and his stomach dropped.
“I don’t understand.”
“I lived most of my life, my flings, my ability to remain unattached, my exploits, to punish my father.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Only to find out that my entire existence was built on a misunderstanding. An assumption I made that turned out not to be true. Suddenly...” He raked a hand through his hair. “I had no idea who I was. I was faced with nearly twenty years of distance and foolish decisions and a persona I’d concocted that wasn’t really me. It made me question everything. Including whether I was pursuing you and being a father for the right reasons.”
He waited for the shutter to drop down, for her beautiful, misty eyes to turn steely gray and her voice to whip out an order to leave and never come back.
Hope bloomed, tiny but fierce, as she stayed put, continued to look at him thoughtfully instead of with the disgust and fury he’d anticipated.
“So what did you decide?”
He barely resisted kissing her for uttering her question in that prim, controlled voice that drove him crazy. Crazy because he admired her, how she managed to lead and coordinate and do all the amazing things she did for her career. Crazy, too, because he wanted to kiss her senseless until the primness was replaced by that breathy moan that set his blood on fire.
“Cabrera Shipping became the first thing I really wanted in life for me. Making it a success because I wanted to build something.La Reinawas the second, and the first thing that was truly my own. I never thought anything could be more important thanLa Reina.”
He reached out, slowly, giving her plenty of time to back up, before he placed his hand on her belly. She didn’t lean into him, but she didn’t pull away. He knelt down in the sand, gave in to temptation and placed the softest of kisses on her stomach.
“You, and our child, are more important to me than anything in the world, Calandra.” He looked up at her, letting every emotion he’d repressed show. If he lost, at least he’d know he gave it his all. “It started out with me wanting more purpose in my life. The chance to be the father mine had never been. And then I realized that it wasn’t just our child, but you that I wanted, too. The woman I’ve been falling in love with for the past three years.”
A tear traced its way down her face, leaving behind a trail on her cheek that glistened in the silver light. He stood and hurriedly wiped it away.
“Calandra, I—”
“I’m sorry!” she cried out and flung her arms around his neck. He hesitated for half a second before wrapping his arms around her waist and hauling her against him, burying his face in her hair and breathing her in.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he whispered in her ear as he cradled her in his arms.
“But I do.” She pulled back to look him in the eye, her hands settling on his cheeks. “I heard enough of your conversation with your father to know how serious it was. You told me about your relationship with him, how tumultuous it was, but I focused on the little bit I heard and made it all about me and my past.” She wiped away more tears with the back of her hand. “I should have given you grace. I should have trusted you and told you how much I respect your drive, your dedication...how much I loved you. And instead I assumed the worst and I ran.”
He cradled her face in his hands and kissed the tears from her cheeks as joy filled him, true joy like he’d never known before.
“I’m not perfect, Calandra.”
A smile broke through her tears. “Trust me, I know.”
“Minx.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I mean that I’m just starting to get to know myself. It’s going to take a while. There will be days I struggle. It’s a lot to ask anyone to take on. Selfish, really.”
“And I’m just starting to confront my past,” Calandra said as she laid her hands on top of his. “I have trust issues. Big ones. I buried myself in routines and checklists and a job that required order. I struggle to share my emotions. I have a lot to deal with regarding my parents.”
“Well...” So much. So much pain on both sides. “Aren’t we a pair?”
Her eyes dimmed a fraction. “Do you think...”
“I think,” he replied as her voice trailed off, “that we both love each other. That we know each other better than anyone else does. And,” he added as he placed a hand on her stomach once more, “that that’s enough for a new start. I want to marry you, Calandra. I want to wake up to your face the rest of my life, to our baby in the nursery. I want you to drag me to little culinary schools and remind me that I’m being an ass and not let me get away with anything.”
A wobbly smile crossed her face as more tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Was that a proposal?”
He dropped back down on one knee and grabbed both her hands in his. “A horrible one, but yes. Let me try that again. Calandra Smythe, love of my life, will you marry me?”
With her breathy “yes” echoing in his ears, he surged to his feet, swept her into his arms and kissed her beneath a sea of stars.