still wasn’t even certain how Valentin had persuaded her to go ahead with it. All she knew was that with that one touch of his fingertip to her lips, he’d reminded her of the incendiary attraction they’d shared. Just one fingertip and she’d made a decision that would affect her for the rest of her life. Her entire body had reacted, concentrated on that mere touch. No one else had ever had the ability to set her alight with the brush of a finger the way he did. Which was a good thing, she’d always told herself as she’d pointed her attentions into her career and into establishing, then expanding, her business. Dating had been, for lack of a better word, a bland experience once she’d decided to test the waters again. But that very blandness was what had put her in search of a matchmaking service that would find her something better than bland. Had she been unconsciously searching for a relationship like what she had with Valentin all along? The idea was as terrifying as it was exhilarating.
And more important, now that she had agreed to go ahead, where would they go from here?
“You may now kiss your bride.”
The celebrant’s words penetrated her thoughts, dragging her back to the reality that was her wedding day. Her eyes flared wide as she caught Valentin’s smile and she froze in place. His eyes locked with hers, a serious expression reflecting back at her as he lifted her left hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her wedding finger.
“This is the ring you deserved all along,” he murmured before leaning closer.
She barely caught her breath before she felt the pressure of his lips against hers. Sensation bloomed through her like a starburst, radiating to the tips of her fingers and the soles of her feet, not to mention everywhere in between. She parted her lips in response, kissing him back instinctively. Her hand rested on his chest for a brief moment before sliding up to his neck. The texture of his slightly long hair against her fingers sent another jolt of awareness surging through her and she lifted slightly upward. Valentin’s arm curled around her waist, holding her to him.
It had always been like this between them. This intensity. This overwhelming need to be close. Closer still. As if the world began and ended with each other.
“Um, guys?” Valentin’s brother, Galen, interrupted them. “Care to leave something for the honeymoon?”
The gathered crowd laughed at his words and Valentin slowly drew away, leaving Imogene feeling more than a little stunned by what had just happened between them. Seven years. Actually, to be precise, seven years, three months, two weeks and five days since she’d walked out of his life. And still she was as hopelessly overcome by him.
“Are you okay?” Valentin asked gently, his arm still around her waist and his blue eyes searching her face for any signs of distress.
“Well, aside from my lipstick, which is probably demolished right now, I’m fine,” she said as coolly as she could manage given the rapid beat of her pulse and the tingling shocks that still lingered in parts of her body that hadn’t tingled in far too long.
He gave her a smile, took her hand again, and together they turned to face the assembly.
“I give you Mr. and Mrs. Horvath!” the celebrant triumphantly declared before surreptitiously wiping at his brow with a handkerchief.
They were married. Imogene couldn’t quite believe it. Her synapses were still somewhat fried by that kiss. But there was no mistaking the strong fingers that were wrapped around her own, nor the steady presence of the dark-suited man standing beside her. Her mother rushed forward, her cheeks still wet with tears, to congratulate them both. But as she drew back again she fixed Valentin with a stern eye.
“Don’t mess it up this time, young man. You’re lucky to get a second chance with my girl. Look after her.”
“I will,” Valentin promised.
Imogene felt a sting of embarrassment at her mother’s words, but the gentle pressure of Valentin’s hand signaled he’d taken no offense. She knew her mother would never understand why she’d made her choice to go ahead today. But then again, maybe she would. After all, her own husband had conducted many, albeit discreet, affairs during their marriage. Which was another reason Imogene had felt so strongly about infidelity. She’d always wondered why her mother had agreed to settle for less than 100 percent from her husband. Why she’d allowed other women to fill his life, where she rightly belonged. But then again her mother accepted a lot of things in the pursuit of her ordered life. Heavily involved in charity work, she enjoyed the distinction of being married to a leading international human rights lawyer. Of being perceived as calm and unflappable and the perfect hostess at all times. Imogene had learned early in her life that she wanted far more than that when she married. And she’d thought she had it with Valentin when they’d fallen so instantly and passionately in love.
Could they achieve that together again? She thought of the words Alice had spoken to her just before the ceremony, about it not being an easy road back to loving each other again. Could they even hope to love each other again? she wondered. When she’d agreed to go ahead with this, the only thing she’d locked her mind onto was her main goal in this entire venture. A child, or children, of her own to love. But to love her husband, too? She flickered a glance up at Valentin. She wasn’t sure if she could trust herself to trust him again, let alone love him.
Her insides clenched at the idea of making a baby. He’d made it patently clear he wanted children, too. Would that be enough to be the glue that would hold them together?
He also told you he was never unfaithful to you, a snide voice whispered in the back of her mind. In fact, he’d been adamant on that point, promising she had nothing to fear on that score. She wished she could believe him. Her eyes had told her a different story seven years ago. But she couldn’t think about that now. She’d made her choice. She’d agreed to marry him and agreed that once their three-month trial period was up, if they were still together, they’d start trying for their family. And until then, she could only wait and see.
Valentin fought his frustration. He was never good with crowds, and this crowd was too happy, too noisy and very much too in his face. He had to concede that everyone here was celebrating his wedding, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. Not when every cell in his body urged him to take Imogene by the hand again and whisk her to where the helicopter waited on the expansive lawn outside so they could head to SeaTac, and then in one of the Horvath private jets to Rarotonga for their honeymoon. He couldn’t wait for that part, but even though that kiss to seal their marriage had been better than everything he’d remembered, he knew that this time he and Imogene needed to tread carefully if they were going to make their union work.
He had no intention of creating a family without a strong foundation based on love and genuine trust in each other, no matter how well they survived the initial three-month trial period of their marriage. He wouldn’t do that to her, nor would he do that to any child they might have. Their future happiness hinged on one thing: rebuilding Imogene’s trust in him as her life partner. He had to do whatever it took if this was going to work. But it couldn’t all be one way. He needed to be certain she was working just as hard on their future as he was. That she wouldn’t run out on him again.
Losing her the first time had been crippling. He’d coped the only way he knew how, by throwing himself into things he could control, to a degree anyway. He’d signed on for another volunteer contract and did longer clinics, more surgeries and, even under the growing threat of civil war, more visits out into the bush. Some might say he’d had a death wish, because the political climate in the nation had become wildly volatile—driving many volunteers out—but for Valentin it allowed him to focus on what needed to be done and to tuck away the pain of distrust and abandonment that Imogene had left in her wake.
