Ways To Ruin A Royal Reputation (Mills & Boon Modern) (Signed, Sealed…Seduced, Book 1) by Dani Collins (best contemporary novels .TXT) 📕

“Nothing happened with Baz,” she muttered.

“I know. He’s a client and you don’t have relationships with clients.” He sounded only a little facetious. More of a chide at himself, she suspected. “It was genuinely shocking to me that anyone could hurt me so deeply just by standing next to another man, though.”

She was reminded of their spat about jealousy when they were at his villa on the lake. When he had pointed out they were too new to have confidence in their relationship.

“I want you to come to me when you’re hurt and scared and don’t know what to do.” He pointed to the middle of his chest, voice sharpening, then dying to sardonic. “And I want you by my side when I don’t know what to do. I’ve hardly slept, I was trying so hard to work out how to spin things so you wouldn’t be destroyed by all of this. I wanted to talk it out with you.” He laughed at the paradox.

“And then I threw you under the bus,” she said contritely, mentioning what was looming like a bright red double-decker between them.

“Don’t apologize for what you wrote.”

“I wasn’t going to.” But she clung to her elbows, deeply aware that she couldn’t do that to a man and not have him hate her a little.

Which made her gaze go to the velvet box. Maybe it wasn’t a ring. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. How mortifying.

She jerked her gaze back to his, but he had seen where her attention had strayed.

“I want to marry you, Amy.”

She ducked her face into her hands, all of her so exposed she couldn’t bear it, but there was nowhere to hide.

“We don’t even know each other, Luca!”

Gentle hands grazed her upper arms, raising goose bumps all over her body before he moved his hands to lightly encircle her wrists.

“I’m telling you what I want, that’s all. What I know to be true. You don’t have to answer me right now. I’ll propose properly when you’re more sure.”

“What would our marriage even look like?” she asked, letting him draw her hands from her face. “We’re not a match that people want to accept. We don’t even live in the same country!”

“We can work all that out,” he said, as if it was as simple as buying groceries. “My future is up in the air right now. The only thing I know for certain is that I want to be with you. So I bought a house here. We can date or you can move in. You can work or not. I’ll get started with my own ventures. Maybe we’ll move to Vallia at some point if it feels right. We can have a long engagement, so you have time to be sure. All of that is up for discussion, but I’d love for you to wear this ring when you’re ready. I want people to know how likely I am to kill them if they malign the woman I love.”

“You love me?” She began to shake.

“Of course, I love you.”

“But you said...” She tried to remember what he’d told her about marriage. “You said you’d only marry someone vetted by... I’m not exactly the best choice of bride, Luca.”

“If we make each other happy, that’s all that matters. No. Wait,” he corrected himself, cupping her face. “You are a bright, successful, badass of a woman who makes me a better man. How could anyone say that’s a bad choice?”

“I make you better?” she choked out. “Hardly. You’re perfect.” It was annoying as hell.

“Exactly,” he said with a shrug of casual arrogance. “I don’t make mistakes. How could the woman I choose to spend my life with be anything but a flawless decision?”

“Oh, my God,” she scoffed, giving him a little shove, before letting him catch her close. “You are a bit of a god, you know. It’s intimidating.” She petted his stubbled cheek before letting her hand rest on his shoulder.

“This is you acting intimidated? I can’t wait until you’re comfortable. You’ll be hell on wheels once you trust me, won’t you? Pushing back on me at every turn.”

A pang of remorse hit her. “I should have trusted you and told you about Avery.”

“It’s a difficult subject. I understand.”

“It wasn’t just that,” she admitted. “I was afraid of how you’d react. Afraid you would push me away and I would never have a chance to get to know you better. Then I was afraid you’d judge me. That I’d lose you.” Her eyes dampened. “And then I did lose you.”

“No, you didn’t. I’m right here.” A smile ghosted across his lips. “We had a fight, and we’ll have others because we’re both headstrong and used to thinking independently. But we’ll always come back to each other. Wear my ring and I’ll prove that to you.”

“You really think we could make this work?”

“There’s only one way to know.”

“Okay.” Nerves had her hand shooting out between them as though they were finalizing a deal. “I’ll live with you here and—”

He yanked her close and swooped a deep kiss onto her lips, one that sent her arms twining around his neck in joy. One of her feet came off the floor.

He used the leverage of taking her weight to pivot her toward the bedroom door, then broke their kiss to walk her backward.

“Wait. I need more of that first.” He paused and drew her properly against him, squeezing out all the shadows and filling her with a golden light while his mouth sweetly and lazily got reacquainted with hers.

They both groaned and she whispered, “I missed you.”

She might have cringed then because it had only been a few days. They’d been dark ones, though. The beginning of eternity without him.

But here he was murmuring, “Me too,” before sweeping his mouth across hers with more heat and passion and craving.

“Luca,” she gasped as need sank its talons into her.

“Sì. I need you, too,” he said in a rough voice and picked her up to carry