A New Year Marriage Proposal (Harlequin Romance) (15 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I
T
WAS
STARTING
to snow when Quinn got back to the mews. He could see several lights on in Carissa’s windows, so he was pretty sure she was home.

The question was whether she was alone, or whether—as it was New Year’s Eve—she was throwing a party. Or going to one. Or...

He called her.

She didn’t pick up.

And he didn’t want to leave a message. He needed to talk to her. Face to face. Nothing else would do.

OK. He’d have to take a risk. If she turned him down, she turned him down.

It didn’t take him long to set up the living room.

The picnic was in the fridge, along with the champagne and the most decadent chocolate cake in the history of the universe.

All he needed now was Carissa.

He rang her doorbell. There was no answer and he wondered if he’d missed her, but then he glanced at his watch. It was too early to go to a party.

He rang the doorbell again. There was still no answer; but he’d noticed movement in one of the lit rooms. She was there, then. Just not answering the door.

Well, he knew a little trick that might change that.

This time he leaned on the doorbell and didn’t stop until she opened the door, looking annoyed. She clearly dressed for a party, in killer high heels and a little black dress; her hair was piled up on the top of her head and she was wearing a headband that he suspected had real gemstones rather than being a piece of costume jewellery.

‘Oh—Quinn.’ Her face shuttered.

Hardly surprising. He’d hurt her. He just wanted her to give him the chance to put it right. He’d thought about it. He’d accepted himself for who he was. And now he wanted the rest of his life—the rest of their lives—to start properly.

‘I need to talk to you,’ he said. ‘I can see that you’re going out, and I don’t want to hold you up, but can you give me ten minutes? Please?’

She looked wary, and guilt flooded through him. Given that her last relationship had been with a man who’d let her down, who’d hurt her physically and mentally, and whose apologies had always been short-lived, it was no wonder that she looked wary. Right now he needed to pull out all the stops. Make her see how he really felt. Make her believe in him and in their future.

‘If you want me to go down on my knees and beg,’ he said, ‘I will.’

She looked shocked. ‘Quinn, you can’t do that. It’s snowing!’

He shrugged, not caring about getting wet or cold. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to make you realise I’m serious—that I really do mean it.’

For a nasty moment he thought she was going to say no.

But then she exhaled sharply. ‘OK. Come in.’

‘Um—I’d like to do this at my place.’

She frowned. ‘What difference does it make where we talk?’

A huge difference. ‘I know I don’t deserve this, given that you had to ask me to leave,’ he said, ‘but would you humour me?’

* * *

There were shadows under his eyes. As if he’d slept badly, spent a lot of time thinking things through. Did this mean that he’d finally sorted out the demons in his head and he was ready to believe in himself—and in their future? Or was he going to tell her that he’d changed his mind?

Whatever happened, it was New Year’s Eve. So whether it was closure or a new start, she’d get to start the New Year with a clean slate. The waiting would be over.

Much as she wanted to wrap her arms tightly round him and kiss him until they were both dizzy, now wasn’t the time. They needed to talk.

‘OK.’ She grabbed her keys, locked the door behind her and followed Quinn to his house.

He paused in the hallway outside his living room. ‘Wait here and close your eyes.’

What kind of game was he playing? ‘Why?’

‘Please—I’ll only be a couple of seconds.’

She’d gone this far, so she might as well do what he asked. It wasn’t going to make much difference. She closed her eyes. ‘OK.’

He kept her waiting for more than a couple of seconds, but then she heard him come back into the hallway.

‘Ready,’ he said. ‘You can open your eyes now. Come in.’

Carissa couldn’t quite believe it when she walked into his living room. The austere, functional space she’d seen before had totally changed. Instead of the stark lighting Quinn normally used, there were tealight candles flickering on every surface, and rose petals were scattered everywhere; a soft cello concerto was playing in the background.

It was the most romantic thing she’d ever seen in her life.

And it was the last thing she’d expected from Quinn O’Neill.

‘This is why I wanted you to come here. I wanted you to see that I’m serious,’ he said. ‘That I mean every word I say.’

‘All this—it’s beautiful—but...’ She shook her head. ‘It’s just not you.’

‘It’s not me,’ he agreed, ‘but I thought you might like it—and I’m trying to make you feel some of the magic that you showed me.’

What?

Was she hearing things?

‘Will you sit down?’ he asked, gesturing to the sofa.

She sat down, and he sat next to her.

‘You were right to throw me out,’ he said. ‘And I’ve had a lot of time to think this week.’ He paused. ‘I went to see my cousin today.’

Something else she hadn’t expected him to say. ‘And?’ she asked carefully.

‘You see things very clearly,’ he said. ‘You were right about everything. Sam’s ten years older than me, so he was kind of a bit removed from it all. He said they were angry with my mum for dumping me, they didn’t have a clue how to deal with me when I started being a maths geek, and talk of university worried them even more. All they could think about was student riots and people taking drugs, and they didn’t want me to end up in trouble or get hurt.’

He smiled wryly. ‘We’ve been at cross purposes for a lot of years. But Sam’s got three kids. He sees things from a different perspective now. We can’t ever change what happened, but we’ve made a start at getting things right in the future. It’ll take time, but I’m going to see them again at the weekend. All of them.’ He paused. ‘You were right about that. And everything else, too.’

‘Everything?’ she checked.

‘About learning to accept myself for who I am and see myself for who I am. I make mistakes and I bury myself in work so I don’t have to face them. But this week I’ve faced a lot of things, and it feels as if the weight of half a world has fallen off my shoulders.’ He held her gaze. ‘And now I want the rest of my life to start properly, Carissa. I accept who I am. I’m ready to move on. And I’ve met someone who has taught me that there’s good in life. Magic, even.’

She felt her eyes widen: did he mean her? Did he mean her failed attempts to prove the magic of Christmas to him?

Either she’d spoken aloud or it was written all over her face, because he smiled. ‘Not Christmas,’ he said, ‘and I don’t think I’m ever really going to like Christmas—even though Christmas this year was the most amazing day of my life. But this woman taught me that life can be magical with the right person. She taught me to look for the happy stuff. For the sparkle.’

So he
did
mean her.

He slid off the sofa and dropped to his knees in front of her.

‘I want my future to be full of that magic,’ he said. ‘And hers. Because she’s taught me that what I want is a family of my own. I might get it wrong every so often and need a bit of a nudge to get me back on track, but I’m going to try my best to get it right.

‘I love you, Carissa Wylde. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. It scares me stupid, but nothing can make me stop loving you. Ever. And I know you’re about to go out and my timing’s rubbish, but I’m going to ask you anyway. Would you do me the honour of marrying me and making a family with me?’

She couldn’t quite take this in. ‘You want me to marry you?’

He took a box from his pocket wrapped in sparkly silver paper and wrapped with a navy chiffon ribbon, and handed it to her.

The last time he’d given her a parcel wrapped in sparkly paper it had been star-shaped fairy lights for her computer screen.

But this box was much smaller.

‘For me?’ she checked.

‘For you,’ he said. ‘I’ve never done this before. And I hope I’m doing this right.’

And he looked really, really nervous. Nervous enough for her to think she knew exactly what was in that box.

It took her three goes to untie the ribbon, partly because her hands were shaking and partly because it was really well tied.

Finally she undid it and took off the paper to reveal a navy velvet box.

She opened the box and just stared at the ring nestled within. It took her breath away: a heart-shaped diamond in a simple platinum setting. Simple and utterly beautiful. Quinn’s heart, literally and figuratively.

She knew he was waiting for her to speak, but she couldn’t get the words out.

His eyes were filled with anxiety. ‘Did I get it wrong? Do you hate it? Because I can take it back if you hate it.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Or if you don’t want it at all.’

How could he think that she wouldn’t want what he was giving her? Because it wasn’t just a ring. He was giving her
himself
. ‘It’s gorgeous and I love it. I’m just... Oh, Quinn...’ She could feel tears trickling down her face and scrubbed the back of her hand against her skin to rub them away. ‘You really mean this?’

‘I really mean this,’ he said.

She slid off the sofa to join him on her knees. ‘Then, yes, Quinn, most definitely yes—I’ll marry you. Because I love you, too, and I’ve been so miserable without you these last few days.’

‘Me, too. But you were right to throw me out. I needed to work through the stuff in my head, and the only person who could do that was me. You showed me how to do it, but I had to sort it out for myself. Face up to who I am, and learn to believe that it’s OK to let people close.’

‘It’s more than OK to let me close,’ she said. ‘Quinn O’Neill, you’re everything I want.’

He held her so tightly that she almost couldn’t breathe, but she was holding him just as tightly. Then he drew back slightly and gestured to the box. ‘May I?’

She nodded and he took the ring from its velvet setting. He lifted her left hand, kissed the back of her ring finger, then placed the ring on it.

‘I love you,’ he said.

‘I love you too.’

He gave her a rueful smile. ‘I really haven’t thought this through properly—I made you a picnic, all healthy stuff so you’d like it, and I put the rose petals and tealights where the food should go—and anyway you’re supposed to be at a party.’

She smiled back. ‘It’s a casual thing, so it doesn’t matter if I go or not, or if I take someone with me. We could go together, if you want to?’

‘Right now,’ he said, ‘I’m selfish enough to want you all to myself and I don’t want to share you with a crowd of strangers.’

‘That works for me. I’ll just text my friend so she doesn’t worry.’ She paused. ‘Um, Quinn, you do know my family’s going to want to celebrate this when we tell them the news? And that means a huge party with everyone there. Are you going to be OK with that?’

‘I like your family,’ he said.

‘Just so you know, Gramps and Granny liked you very much.’ She smiled. ‘And Poppy’s already told me that you’re a good ’un. Nan adores you. That’s not going to change.’

‘Good. And maybe you can come with me to Birmingham. Meet
my
family,’ he said.

‘I’d love to.’

He kissed her. ‘You might need to nudge me every so often to get me back on track,’ he said, ‘but I’ll try my hardest never to let you down again.’ He paused. ‘The last time I drank champagne with you,’ he said, ‘I let you down. Will you let me make that right?’

She nodded.

‘Stay there and I’ll bring the picnic in.’ He grimaced. ‘Well, maybe I’ll clear things a bit first.’

‘I like this room exactly as it is,’ she said, ‘candles and rose petals and all. It’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me—and I can’t believe that someone like you, someone who hates mess and clutter and frivolous stuff, would do something like this.’

‘For you, always.’ He smiled. ‘Give me two minutes.’

‘Can I help bring anything in?’

‘No.’ He kissed her. ‘Just stay there and text your friend.’

He came back a couple of minutes later with two glasses, a bottle of champagne and what looked like the richest chocolate cake in the world, topped with an enormous candle.

‘I thought you said it was a healthy picnic?’ she asked, laughing.

‘Ah. That’s still in the fridge. I’m cutting to the important stuff,’ he said. ‘Haven’t you ever heard that you should eat dessert first?’

‘That,’ she said, ‘sounds like an excuse for chocolate.’

‘Not just chocolate. We should have fireworks as it’s New Year’s Eve, but it’s freezing outside and it’ll be heaving with people if we go to see the fireworks at the Thames—so this is my compromise, a private firework party.’

Knowing exactly what the candle was now, she grinned. ‘A very private firework party.’ One with an indoor Roman candle.

He opened the champagne and poured them both a glass, then lit the Roman candle and let it sparkle away.

‘To you, Carissa,’ he said, lifting his glass. ‘Because that firework is how you make me feel all the time. I love you.’

‘That’s how you make me feel, too,’ Carissa said. ‘I love you.’ The diamond in her engagement ring sparkled in the light from the firework. ‘Always.’

‘Always,’ Quinn echoed, and kissed her.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS by Susan Meier.

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