one. The only one for me. I’m here because I had to come, to take a chance that maybe you might forgive me for being such a complete ass, for turning you down, for not seeing the truth sooner, for not letting you show me what you’ve been trying to show me. I’m hoping, I’m praying that just maybe it’s not too late.”
Tears scalded the back of her throat. She gulped them down. “But how? When...?” Her throat clutched and she couldn’t finish.
“Yesterday,” he said. “Christmas Day. I was at my favorite café in La Cacheron. You remember the one?”
“I remember, yes.”
His eyes went bleak. “Vesuvia cornered me there. She started in on me about how I was going to have to marry her.”
“Because of the Marriage Law, you mean?”
“That’s right. She started laying out all the reasons why she was the right wife for me. She said she understood me, she knew what I required in a wife. And then, out of nowhere, shocking the hell out of both of us, I just said it. I said it out loud without even stopping to think about it.”
“Said what?”
“That what I require is love and forever. That I’m in love with you. That you’re the only one I would ever marry, the only woman for me.”
The chains of hurt around her heart loosened. The sunny day seemed brighter still. Could this really be happening? Could all of her dreams, every last shining one of them, miraculously come true? “I don’t... Dami, what are you saying? Are you asking me to marry you?”
He raked a hand back through that thick midnight hair. “I know you’re young. I know it’s probably too soon to be talking about marriage. I was just telling you what I said to Vesuvia, which was only the simple, absolute truth. I love you, Lucy Cordell. I want only you. I want us to have a life together. I’ve been thinking about how we might make that happen. I know your dream is to go to school here. So if you would have me, if you would give me another chance to show you all you mean to me, I would make New York my home base. I would move in upstairs. We would move in upstairs. You could keep this place, if you want it, for your work. Or whatever....”
Her silly mouth kept trembling and the happy tears wouldn’t stay down. “Oh, Dami. I can’t... I don’t...” She had a million questions. She asked the first one that popped into her head. “But what about the Marriage Law? Don’t you have to marry someone soon?”
He smiled then, at last, that wonderful, unforgettable killer smile of his. “Yes, if I don’t marry within a year of my next birthday, I lose my titles and all I’ve inherited as a prince of Montedoro. But I do have three brothers ahead of me in line for the throne. And all three of them have children. And after me there are five sisters. The Bravo-Calabrettis will have no problem holding the throne whether I remain a prince or not. And my inheritance aside, I’ve done well for myself. I don’t have to marry anyone to continue living in the style to which I’ve always been accustomed.”
“So that’s what you meant at Thanksgiving when you said you were going to leave it alone, not worry about the Marriage Law anymore.”
“Exactly.”
“And so...you don’t want to marry me?”
He laughed. “Of course I want to marry you.” He grew serious again. “I just think you need more time to deal with that. And I’m willing to give you as long as you need.”
“Oh, Dami...”
“Whenever you’re ready, say the word. We’ll get married tomorrow if that’s what you want.”
“You mean that?”
“I do. With all of my heart.”
“Is this...a dream? Am I still asleep?”
“No dream, Luce. Real. You and me forever. That’s what I want. I found you—and then I lost you through my own blind pigheadedness. If you’ll only take me back, I will always be here for you, always love you. Always, Luce. I swear it.”
She didn’t want to break the spell of all this wonderfulness with her deepest fear. But she knew that she had to. “I only... What about the children? What if I can’t have your children?”
His gaze never wavered. “You’re the one for me. That’s what matters. We’ll deal with the challenges as they come. If we never have children or if we adopt or find a surrogate... Whatever happens, as long as you’re with me, as long as we can face it together, we can get through it. We’ll be all right.”
“You sound so certain.”
“I am certain. I was an idiot. Your brother even told me so. But not anymore. Never again.”
“Noah said you were an idiot?”
“Yes. He called me on Christmas Eve. He said I was an idiot to leave you. He was right. Luce, I know what I want now. I get it at last. I am absolutely sure that you are the one for me. The question is, what do you want?”
“Oh, Dami...”
He watched her, waiting for her answer. His eyes were so bright, full of hope. Full of yearning.
She saw the truth in him then, and she believed. His heart was hers to take.
“Yes,” she answered with total conviction. “You’re the one for me, too. Oh, Dami, there’s no one else, there never could be. I love you so much.”
“Luce.” He opened his arms to her.
She ran to him. He grabbed her close.
The kiss they shared made her head spin and her knees go weak. He was her friend, her prince, her hero, her hot and tender holiday lover. And now, at last, on the day after Christmas, he was giving her the gift she wanted most of all. That gift was his love.
She had his heart and he had hers. Forever belonged to the two of them now. They would claim it hand in hand, together.
Cara Colter
To Alice Sonntag,
who gave me a Christmas wreath
with the word believe
peeking out of fragrant boughs.
TWENTY-TWO gallons of hot chocolate.
Ten of mulled wine.
Four hundred and sixty-two painstakingly decorated Christmas cookies.
And
