She slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his back. “I don’t want you to become someone else. There’s no man I admire more than you.”
He closed his eyes. He needed more than her admiration.
“Did you come to give me the necklace? To confess you bought it for me? Is that the news that couldn’t wait?”
“Not quite.” He faced her.
Perhaps she saw the pain in his eyes, the sorrow he’d carried for years. Her hand lifted before she seemed to think better of it. Then she brushed his hair from his brow and kissed him softly on the lips.
Something in that kiss unravelled the last of his doubt.
He’d been right to come.
His arms closed around her, the ruby necklace still tangled in his hand, and he deepened the kiss, drawing her closer as if he meant to anchor her there.
She opened for him, her hands clutching his coat with sudden fierceness, the kiss turning desperate.
And then he tasted it—the salt of her tears.
He drew back, saw more tears slide down her cheeks.
“What is it?” He searched her face, wiping them awaywith his thumb. “I overstepped. This was ill-timed. I shouldn’t have come here uninvited.”
She cupped his cheek, her light laugh confirming he’d missed the mark. “It’s not you. These feelings steal my breath. Dominic, there’s something I must?—”
He touched a finger to her lips. Though he longed to hear more, she had to know why he’d come. “Let me speak first. Please, Daphne.”
She blinked tears from her lashes. “Very well.”
“The ruby is yours, though that’s not what I came to give you.” He tucked the necklace back into his pocket and drew out his mother’s ring. “I want you to have this.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth, eyes widening as he held the slender gold ring, a pale green peridot set between two pearls.
“No. I can’t take your mother’s ring.”
He placed it in her palm and curled her fingers around it. “It’s the only thing I care about, besides you. Why wouldn’t I give it to you? I’m in love with you. It will only ever be you.”
For a heartbeat she stared at him, lower lip trembling.
“Dominic …”
She swallowed hard, tears gathering on her lashes.
“I love you, angel.”
The words left him exposed. There was nothing left to hide behind. Now only her answer remained.
She lifted her gaze to his.
“Dominic, I love you.”
The breath left him. His throat closed around the question he couldn’t stop. “You love the man who visits you in the cottage? I’m not always him.”
She laid a hand on his cheek.
“I love the man who can bring a ballroom to its knees. The man who takes no prisoners. The man who trusts meenough to show me his softer side. I love all of you. The saint and the sinner.”
He closed his eyes, sliding an arm around the flare of her hip and pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.
