Taking the single step necessary, he pulled her into his arms.“You have to do this again—wehave to do this again, and we have to get it right this time.Give us a chance, Amber.I know I messed up, and I get that there aren’t any guarantees, but without you, my life is meaningless.I couldn’t even last a day without you.”
“Is this your pride talking?I left you, so now you have to be the one to walk away?”
“You’re so wrong,” he insisted.“This isn’t a polo match.This is forever.”
Forever?
Did he have to raise a brow, slant those lips, and let the smile in his eyes do the talking for him?
“You’ve got as little reason to trust as I have,” Alexei told her, “but in the end, we both want the same thing, which is to trust and be trusted; to love and be loved.You have to take the same first step I do, if you want that.”
She wanted to believe him.“What do you want me to say?”
“That you love me would be a start.Then move on to Happy New Year, followed swiftly by Happy Christmas, because tomorrow is another Christmas Day.”
“The seventh of January,” she whispered.
“I love you, Amber.You tore my heart out of my chest and took it with you.I had to come here to get it back.”
“You love me?”she repeated, staring into Alexei’s eyes.
“Forever—if that’s long enough for you?And I know you don’t want to live on a boat.I get that.”
“It’s very nice for a holiday,” she said politely.
Alexei laughed out loud, and it was the most glorious sound she’d ever heard.“Very nice,” he agreed, his steel-gray eyes dancing with warmth and laughter.“But now—” He looked around.“I can see you’re a homemaker, and I’m doubly determined to win your heart by showing you all the raw material I can give you to work on.”
“Your houses.”
“My houses,” he confirmed.
She couldn’t pretend her heart didn’t rush with excitement at that thought.“A homemaker?”She glanced around.She supposed it was true.Her bed-sit was tiny and modest, but it was warm and comfy and safe, and full of all the things she loved, but for Alexei to see that meant a lot.
“Could you do the same for me?”he asked.
“If you want to build a home like this, you’ll have to share the work, but I can tell you what to do—”
“That sounds about right,” he agreed, grabbing her close.“So, what’s your answer?”
“What’s the question?”
“Provocative woman!Will you marry me, Amber Smith?”
“I love you.Happy New Year!”She smiled.“Merry Christmas.And…yes, I will marry you, Alexei Riga.”
“If only to save me from myself?”Alexei suggested dryly.
“There is that,” she said wryly.“But I think we’ve saved each other.”
Swinging her off her feet, Alexei kissed her, and the end became the beginning as they started all over again.
Chapter Eleven
“Project number one,” Alexei announced, opening pale beech double doors leading onto the most fabulous penthouse on top of an iconic building in London.
He owned the entire building.Of course he did.Amber’s head was still spinning.They’d spent the night and most of that morning making love in her bed-sit, which, Alexei had assured her, was a lot more comfortable than his grandfather’s traditional yurt, the portable round tent covered with woven tapestries and animal skins they had used when they were inspecting herds of animals on the steppes.She wasn’t entirely sure whether to be flattered or not by that comparison, but she got his drift, and they had certainly raised the temperature of the room.
The penthouse had been designed and equipped by a professional interior designer—a good one—and it was practical, comfortable, and luxurious.“But this is beautiful,” she exclaimed, staring around.‘From your description of your sterile homes, I had an image of Colditz in my mind.”
