The French Aristocrat's Baby (18 page)

With a gasp of relief, Etienne seized on her words and pulled himself onto firmer ground. ‘You want romance,
mon amour?
I can at least manage that, in one small way.’ Slipping from her arms, he went to find his jacket. It was on the floor, where he had dropped it the
night before in the throes of passion. Rifling through his pockets, he pulled out a small leather box and returned to the bedside.

‘You appeared in my life like a dream, Gwen, and I want to keep that feeling alive,’ he whispered softly. ‘That’s why I want to give you this. It’s a family heirloom. I was going to present it to you at the exact moment our baby is born. That’s why I’ve been carrying it everywhere, in my pocket. But I think it would be much better to give it to you now…’

‘What is it?’ she probed, like a surgeon looking for trouble.

He raised one eyebrow, mocking her gently. ‘I’m going to make at least one of your dreams come true right now.’

Before Gwen knew what was happening, he went down on one knee in front of her. Then he held out the little box.

‘Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife, Gwen?’

‘But, Etienne…you’ve already decided that’s going to happen…’ she said, teasingly.

‘I know, and that was wrong of me. I want us to start again, too. This is my proposal. When you accept—’

‘
When?’
She laughed, ruffling his hair playfully. ‘You still sound very sure of yourself!’

‘
If
you accept,’ he corrected himself gravely, ‘then I shall sweep you off to Wales, where you can have such a big church wedding and lavish reception that it will be talked about for years to come. Then we’ll have a honeymoon. When and where is entirely up to you. I
want it to be this instant, but when it comes to our life together, Gwen, I’ve issued my last direct order.’

She was floating on a cloud of disbelief. ‘Are you sure? After all, ordering people about is what you do.’

He had a swift answer for that. ‘And so do you, when you’re at work. That was part of the problem. I underestimated how much you enjoy being in control.’

She smiled. ‘I moved away from my family to get a taste of independence. Once I had it, I didn’t want to let go. That’s why I was so unhappy. You changed so much once we found out I was pregnant.’

‘That’s why I want you to feel we’re together because it’s what we
both
want, Gwen. Now I know what makes you so independent, I can allow for that. We may have got things out of sequence but this can be our second chance. What do you say?’

She put her slender, pale hands over his wide brown ones and drew him to his feet.

‘I can’t think of anything I would like more than to be your wife, Etienne.’

She wanted to say a lot more, but he was in no mood to listen. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her until she was breathless and laughing with delight.

‘Then you’ll need this.’

Taking a stunning diamond solitaire from the little ring box, he placed it gently on her finger. With a gasp, Gwen watched it split the sunlight into a rainbow of colours. Then she looked at him with eyes full of longing.

‘This ring is absolutely wonderful, Etienne, but all I
really
need is you!’

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2009
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Christina Hollis 2010

ISBN: 978-1-408-91895-1