Gemma dropped her head to Callum’s chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, breathing in his scent and glowing in his love. She was still reeling from his profession of love for her. Her heart was bursting with happiness.
“Gemma, will you marry me?”
She snatched her head up to look into his eyes. And there she saw in their green depths what she hadn’t seen before. Now she did.
“Yes, I’ll marry you, but…”
Callum chuckled. “There’s a but?”
“Yes. I want to be told every day that you love me.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’ve hung around my mom, sister and sisters-in-law too much.”
“Whatever.”
“I don’t have a problem doing that. No problem at all.” He sat down on the bed and pulled her down into his lap. “You never answered my question. What are you doing here and not at your place?”
She lowered her head, began toying with the buttons on his shirt and then glanced up and met his gaze. “I know it sounds crazy, but I came home to get over you, but once I got here I had to come here to feel close to you. I was going to sleep in this bed tonight because I knew this is where you slept.”
Callum tightened his arms around her. “I got news for you, Gemma. You’re still sleeping in this bed tonight. With me.”
He eased back on the bed and took her with him, covering her mouth with his, kissing her in a way that let her know how much love he had for her. He adjusted their bodies so he could remove every stitch of her clothing and then proceeded to undress himself.
He returned to the bed and pulled her into his arms, but not before taking a small box from the pocket of his jacket. He placed his knee on the bed and pulled her into his arms to slide a ring on her finger. “For the woman who took my breath away the moment I saw her. To the woman I love.”
Tears clouded Gemma’s eyes when she gazed down at the beautiful ring Callum had placed on her finger. Her breath nearly stopped. She remembered the ring. She had seen it that day when she’d gone shopping with the Austell women and they had stopped by that jewelry store. Gemma had mentioned to Le’Claire how much she’d liked this particular one.
“Oh, Callum. Even your mom knows?” She had to fight back tears as she continued to admire her ring.
“Sweetheart, everybody knows,” he said, grinning. “I had sworn them to secrecy. It was important for me to court you the way you deserved. You hadn’t dated a whole lot, and I wanted to show you that not all guys were heartbreakers.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “And you did court me. I just didn’t know that’s what you were doing. I just figured you were being nice, sending me those flowers, taking me to the movies and those picnic lunches on the beach. I just thought you were showing me how much you appreciated me…”
“In bed?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s what I was afraid of,” he said, pulling her closer to him. “I didn’t want you to think it was all about sex, because it wasn’t. When I told you I would give you anything and everything you wanted, Gemma, I meant it. All you had to do was ask for it, even my love, which is something you already had.”
She rested her head on his bare chest for a moment and then she lifted her head to look back at him. “Do you think you wasted three years living here, Callum?”
He shook his head. “No. Being here gave me a chance to love you from afar while watching you grow and mature into the beautiful woman you are today. I saw you gain your independence and then wear it like a brand of accomplishment in everything you did. I was so proud of you when you landed that big contract with the city, because I knew exactly what you could do. That gave me the idea to buy that house for you to decorate. That will be our home and the condo will become our private retreat when we want to spend time at the beach.”
He paused a moment. “I know you’ll miss your family and all, and—”
Gemma reached up and placed a finger to his lips. “Yes, I will miss my family, but my home will be with you. We will come back and visit and that will be good enough for me. I want to be in Sydney with you.”