Page 71 of Their Diamond Ring Ruse

‘But I want...’ Julian trailed off.

She had never seen him stumble or struggle for words, but she understood then. No one had chosen Julian. Not his mother, who tried to protect him but not leave for him, not his stepfather, who had so terribly hurt him, and definitely not all the business people who’d excluded him for no reason.

‘You want me to choose you,’ she said.

Julian didn’t answer. She could see that he couldn’t. Those blue-green eyes were flat. There was no mischief or humour or sadness. Just nothing reflected back at her. It broke her heart that he was too wary to ask for what he wanted but he never had. It was time he finally understood the depth of her feelings for him.

‘Julian, I chose you from the start.’ When he was still a beautiful stranger. She had left Lincoln’s side and went to him that first night. His eyes twinkled at the memory. ‘I’ll always choose you. But I knew it was all just meant to be fake.’

That was the reason why she had never said she loved him.

‘It was never fake for me,’ he said earnestly. ‘That first night, Lily, I saw you walk in with Devan and I felt kissed by the sun. I couldn’t stop looking at you. Watching to see where you would go and what you would do. I thought I loved you when I kissed you in your office. Knew I loved you when I took you to bed, and again that next morning. I let myself believe it when we went to France, and I hoped...hoped you could see it in what you did to me.’

Lily’s last defences against Julian crumbled. She wanted him to be hers for the rest of her life.

She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely, felt his arms tighten around her the instant she did. ‘I love you.’

Julian’s head tucked into her neck. When he spoke his voice was muffled against her skin.

‘You’re my sunrise. My first spring blossom. My hope and my happiness. You give my world colour and meaning. You’re everything I don’t deserve but desperately want. You make me believe—and I love you so damn much!’

Lily felt as if a fog had lifted. As if the sun had finally come out and warmed her soul. Maybe she was light but Julian wasn’t darkness, he was the darkest night sky in a remote location. Maybe he was hard to reach, but once she did, his beauty was breathtaking.

‘You’re the best person I know, Julian, and I love you, too.’

He pulled away from her embrace, only to kiss her hungrily. Impatient and uncontrolled. Showing her just how naked he could be with her, how much he loved her, and she felt it. It was in the press of his lips and the touch of his tongue. In his hands fisted against her back and his tightly shut eyes.

She would stop the clocks so they could spend this moment tangled in each other for eternity, but he slowed the slide of his lips and broke the connection. He pressed his forehead against hers, his breath uneven.

‘Do you still have my ring?’ he asked hoarsely.

‘I do. Do you want it back?’

‘No. When you’re ready to be my fiancée again—whether it’s a day from now, or a week or a month or a year, I want you to leave it in the middle of our bed and I’ll know you’re ready. You’ll have to say nothing else.’

He was giving her the choice. Letting her make the decision about her future. Their future. And she knew if there was ever a way for him to prove how much he loved her, respected her, it was this.

‘What if I’m ready now?’ Lily asked with a broad smile.

Julian chuckled, his breath brushing against her lips. ‘Then we’ll go home right now and you can show me that you want me.’

‘Home? I’ve bought my own apartment, Julian.’

‘You’re my home, Sunshine. Whether it’s my house—our house—or your new apartment, it’s home.’

Those words made butterflies take flight in her stomach. Made her so happy she had to make sure she wasn’t glowing.

Lily stood on tiptoe to whisper in Julian’s ear. ‘Race you there.’

EPILOGUE

One year later

THE SUN STREAMED into the pavilion at Strawberry Hill, cutting dark shapes into the floor. Stow Lake glittered beyond, but Lily could barely remember where she was. Nor could she pay attention to the small, intimate gathering of friends and family seated a few feet away from her.

She looked at her hands, held in Julian’s grasp, trying not to let her vision blur with tears. Slowly, she raked her gaze up to meet his and, just like every time she did, her breath caught. In his tux, with his earring twinkling and the sun gilding him in golden light, he was magnificent. And he was hers. In every way. From this moment on.

Lily had thought she was happy before, but it was nothing compared to how she felt now.

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