‘That ring was always intended for you—’
‘But you didn’t ask me to marry you, Aristide.’ Tabby shot him a reproving look. ‘In fact the closest you came to that was asking me to live with you.’
Aristide gritted his even white teeth. ‘I was still committed to the softly-softly approach where our lives would eventually be so entangled you would wake up one day and realise you couldn’t live without me—’
‘Youhoped,’ she slotted in, unimpressed.
‘And then you said no when I asked you to marry me and it all fell apart. I didn’t know where to go from there. I had nothing more to offer,’ he admitted in a raw undertone. ‘And I can’t face my life without you in it…so quite happy for you to chip in now with useful suggestions.’
‘Why can’t you face your life without me?’ Tabby asked squarely instead, her heart beating very, very fast because Aristide was severely on edge, ferocious tension etched in every hard line of his lean, strong face.
‘Well, it’s got almost nothing to do with you being pregnant! I wanted you,seriouslywanted you, long before I knew you were pregnant. That simply complicated everything and gave you the wrong impression. Why would you think I only wanted to marry you because you were pregnant?’ he shot at her. ‘We could’ve done that thing with co-parenting that you kept on throwing at me. We could’ve just shared a house. Butonlyif you marry me are you mine and it’s very important to me that you are mine and nobody else’s!’
‘Why?’ she asked again.
Unconcealed frustration radiated from Aristide. ‘Obviously because Iloveyou…why else?’ And after a moment’s hesitation, ‘Should I have said that first?’
Tabby was reeling in shock. ‘But yesterday on the beach you said you didn’t believe love was necessary.’
‘I would’ve done almost anything rather than acknowledge it because, in my experience, once you tell a woman you love her you are no longer equals and sheownsyou!’ he framed in raw condemnation.
Her lips parted company. ‘I’ve got to admit that I wouldn’t mind owning you body and soul,’ she confided softly.
‘Since when?’ Aristide queried in a tone of disbelief.
‘Oh, from just about the first moment I met you, and that desire got stronger every time I saw you. So, there you are, I’m your worst nightmare come true. I would own you if I could,’ she confessed in a rush with a huge smile. ‘I tried to fight how I felt about you too but it didn’t get me very far. I’m not being facetious but my love was at its height when you punched my father and shut him down. I like how protective you are.’
Aristide almost knocked a dining chair over as he swooped on her and lifted her right out of her seat. ‘I’m crazy about you,angelosmou—’
‘Me too…about you, I mean,’ she mumbled blissfully, colliding with burnished golden eyes that made her heart sing with happiness because now she could see the tenderness and the very real feeling there. ‘So, let’s own each other and then never mention it again. And I won’t marry you until Mum’s back in the UK because she’s got to be part of it.’
‘But we’re getting married, right?’ Aristide checked with a huge smile. ‘All I had to do was tell you that I loved you and then you wouldn’t have said no?’
‘Sometimes the uncool, simple way is the best move you can make but you will always try to be clever and make it complicated, Aristide.’ Tabby ruffled his curly hair with fond fingers. ‘That’s just the way you are.’
‘Can I take you straight back to bed?’
‘Only if you let me sleep late afterwards,’ she bargained. ‘That was too early a start this morning.’
He carried her through the hall and down into his bedroom and laid her on the bed. She looked around, remembering their first encounter in the same room and giving him a sunny smile because all that nonsense and drama and insecurity were now far behind them.
‘Being owned is paying dividends I never expected,’ Aristide teased. ‘Theemou, I love you so much I can’t wait to put a wedding ring on your finger. Oh, that reminds me…’ Reaching into his pocket, Aristide extracted her engagement ring and slid it onto her finger. ‘That feels better.’
‘Why did you never ask me to take a DNA test?’ she enquired with belated curiosity.
‘I didn’t have the slightest shade of doubt that if you were pregnant, it was my child. I knew that you were very different from Imogen. When I consider it, I was already trusting you back then without even realising it,’ he murmured with wry amusement.
Tabby yanked on his tie and sat up to kick off her shoes. ‘Why are you still wearing clothes?’ she asked with a distinctly sultry smile. ‘Well, you already knew I was bossy—’
‘Be warned. I am bossy too.’ Aristide stripped without hesitation, dropping everything in an untidy heap.
Tabby shimmied her hips out of her skirt and peeled off her top. Aristide’s eyes literally lit up when he caught a glimpse of her full breasts cupped in lace. ‘You look amazing.’
‘I didn’t think I’d be back in this bed today.’
‘I love you,’ Aristide breathed in a roughened undertone. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. You’ll have no regrets.’
‘You’re already making me happy.’ Tabby tugged him down to her and they kissed and she luxuriated in the connection of their minds and warm bodies. He felt like home. She should’ve guessed he loved her in the way he made love to her, she reflected. He had shown her love in so many little ways and she hadn’t counted them up when she should’ve done. Only a male in love was so tender, thoughtful and caring round the clock. As they joined together with a kind of frantic energy, the world around her splintered and she lazed in the aftermath in his arms, feeling ridiculously happy and content.
