“Jeans and a top are all you need.”
Excitement raced through her.“Then what are we waiting for?”
There was something measured and wonderful about bonding with a horse.As controlled as Conor could be, when he walked at her side as she rode slowly around the arena, he became the most patient man she’d ever met—not that he had much competition in that direction!
“Heels down.Sit up straight,” he commanded in his soft Irish brogue.“Think where you want the horse to go and allow your body to give your pony subtle direction.Not too much—don’t tug on the reins.He knows what to do, if you give him a chance.”
“I love this,” she managed at one point.
“That’s better.You’re relaxing now, and that gives Rollo more confidence.”
“Rollo?”
“Do you like the name?”
“I like everything about him,” she admitted as she stroked the neck of the willing gray.“I like everything about this place—your friends, the way they welcomed me, the way I feel about you, the way I feel inside.I never want to leave.”
“What are you saying?”
A lifetime of uncertainty had left a few threads of doubt behind.“Maybe I’m being presumptuous—”
“Okay, so I’ll go first,” Conor interrupted as he helped her to dismount.“I love you with all my heart, and I don’t want you to leave.I love everything about you.Fate brought you to me in the cruelest way, but if I have to spend the rest of my life convincing you that fate has never been so kind to me before, then that is what I’ll do.”
“You love me?”
“I do,” Conor confirmed with a wide smile.“And if you’ll have me, I’ll marry you all over again.”
“Yes please,” she whispered, staring up into his eyes.
After seeing Rollo comfortably settled, they walked back to the house arm in arm, as close as two people could be who were ready to begin the next chapter of a love affair born of doubt and fear that had grown into one that would last a lifetime long.
Later, when they were snuggled on a rug in front of a roaring fire, sipping whiskey and ginger wine, Karolina rolled her head contentedly against Conor’s chest.“I have to admit, I’m relieved your team accepted me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”he asked with a frown.
“As the daughter of a sex trafficker, I had no right to be confident.”
“They understand you were as much a prisoner as any of your father’s slaves.I wasn’t taken in by that diamond necklace.I could see it wasn’t you.You kept touching it, plucking at it, as if it was throttling you.”
“It was.Not that it was too tight.It was just everything it represented that sickened me.The ambassador could be lavish with gifts, but there was always an angle.I knew those jewels had been bought with the blood and misery of vulnerable people.They made me feel dirty.I’d rather have a ring from a Christmas cracker, given with love.”
“Lucky me, I get to save some money,” Conor observed with a grin.“But my goal is for you to try to put the past behind you.It won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick, but if you take what you’ve learned from that terrible time, it can only help you, and those you’re trying to save.Our work isn’t done yet, and I can’t promise you that it will ever be over.”
“I like the sound of ‘our work,’” she admitted.‘And I’m in for the long haul.”
“You’ve no idea how beautiful you are, inside and out, and now it’s time for us.”
“I like the sound of that too,” she admitted.“But today’s looks won’t last.I’m searching for someone to love me until my teeth drop out.”
“I’m sure Rollo will oblige.”
“Rollo?”
“I’m giving you the pony as a wedding gift.”
“My own pony?”She gasped as she stared into his eyes.Galloping across green meadows with Conor was a dream come true.“But I don’t have anything for you.”
“You don’t always have to barter something,” he told her gently.“Sometimes you’re enough in yourself.”
