Page 55 of A Wedding Negotiation with Her Boss

‘You’re not telling me anything I didn’t already know, Gabriel.’

Had he actually called her ‘darling’? Or had her fevered mind played tricks on her?

‘Here’s what you don’t know. You don’t know how things changed for me. You don’t know that I ripped up the road map I’d spent my life following without even realising it. You don’t know how it was that you came into my life and nothing was the same for me again.’

Helen’s eyes widened and she tilted her head to one side, her expression silently questioning what he had just said.

Gabriel shrugged. ‘I know. You don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you. I’ve been a fool, Helen. I don’t know how else to put it. I never realised that over the years I became more and more embedded in you.

‘You were the constant in my life. I thought I was standing still but, in fact, you were changing my direction and it all came to a head when we—when we went to America and the protective walls of the office were removed. I don’t know if things would have changed for me, had we remained in London, had life carried on its same trajectory with you coming in, doing a great job at work and leaving the office—never letting me in. I think that eventually we would have ended up in the same place.’

‘That’s assuming I felt the same way, which is a pretty sweeping assumption.’ Her words were firm, her voice was not.

‘Did you?’

‘I...’

‘This is a time for us to be completely honest with one another, Helen. I—I’m not the sort of guy who does this emotional stuff, but I couldn’t function this past week. Nothing made sense and nothing mattered. You were going, and I was broken up, because somehow I’ve managed to fall madly in love with you. The thought of never seeing you again is a thought that...’

He shook his head and briefly looked away, but his jaw clenched and his fingers tightened around the stem of his wine glass. He looked back at her. ‘So...did you? Feel the same? Feel that we were both attracted to one another over the time we’ve worked together? That what happened between us in America was somehow inevitable?

‘Actually,attractiondoesn’t begin to cover it. Not for me, even though that was the deal I wanted to kid myself was going on with you. No, for me, it would be more truthful to say that you became embedded in my soul, and the physical attraction that finally exploded between us was just a symptom of something a lot bigger that was going on underneath.’

‘You—you’re in love with me?’

Her heart skipped several beats. Was he telling the truth? His voice was raw with sincere emotion and yet it seemed unbelievable. But surely he wouldn’t make something like that up because she’d rejected him and he wanted to have her back in his bed, whatever it took? Because he couldn’t take no for an answer?

He’d said that this was a time for them to be honest with one another.

‘If you were that crazy about me, then why didn’t you say anything sooner?’ she asked bluntly.

‘Because, like I said, I didn’t know how. I didn’t have the words. I made assumptions about myself and believed them to be true, even when all my actions and all my thoughts were telling me that I’d changed.’

‘I want to believe you, I really do,’ she whispered, tentatively letting go of some of her suspicions as her heart opened up to what he was saying.

‘Because?’

‘Because...’ she breathed in deeply ‘...because I feel the same way about you.’

There was a thickening silence. Gabriel reached out to link her fingers in his and his spirits soared when she didn’t yank her hand away.

‘But you turned down my marriage proposal!’

‘Because I needed more than just a ring on my finger and good sex and compatibility. I needed more than just a business arrangement.’

‘And you’re ready to move on with me?’ Gabriel asked quietly. ‘No regrets down the road about taking the plunge and handing your heart over to the guy who always swore he’d never release his into anyone’s safekeeping until now?’

‘None,’ Helen said with complete honesty. ‘You know, I always believed in love. Dad went to pieces after Mum and my brother died, and he never met anyone again, but I was never scared of giving my heart away just because I knew that loving someone could lead to hurt. I thought I was safe with you because you weren’t the sort of guy who would ever be on my radar, but I fell in love, and when I did I knew it had to be all or nothing with you, not a road in between. I love you, Gabriel, and I always will.’

‘Then,’ he said roughly, ‘At the risk of being repetitive, will you marry me?’

Helen smiled and touched his cheek with her finger.

‘Just try and stop me.’

The wedding was a small affair. Neither wanted to hang around, planning anything over the top, although the option was offered.

‘Not me,’ Helen had said. ‘Not my style.’

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