“Yes, actually.” Mags smiled, then she and Geoff disappeared down the hallway.
Jenna said to Rafe, “I want you to meet my sister. I’m late because I stopped at her apartment to convince her to come today—if she’d speak to me, that was. She did.”
“I’m so glad you broke the ice, Jen.” He pulled her to him.
“You gave me good cause to do it, Rafe. You and your entire family. And oh, my God,” she said on laugh. “This is one Big, Fat Italian holiday!”
“The first of many I hope you’ll participate in.”
“Count on it. Maybe Linney too.”
“If Gio has any say in the matter…”
She kissed her devastatingly handsome ex-husband and murmured against his lips, “Please don’t ever doubt how much I love you. You and only you, Rafe.”
“Ditto, baby. Always.” He gave her a scorching kiss that had the family hooting once more. Jenna didn’t mind.
When they came up for air, she eased out of Rafe’s embrace and told him, “By the way, Tad’s been zapped by inspiration as well. He’s speaking to his parents today. I guess we’ve all needed a little shot of courage to get us moving in the right direction.”
“Spice, baby. You and I just needed to latch onto that inherent chemistry sizzling between us. Enough to ignite a blaze neither one of us can live without.”
She whispered, “I do like the way we singe the sheets.”
“We’re just getting started,” he assured her.
Exhilaration trilled along Jenna’s spine. “Interesting you should mention that. There’s something else I want us to address. Now seems like the appropriate time.”
He eyed her curiously. “Everything okay?”
Jenna reached into her purse and retrieved the black velvet box she’d always carried with her. “I want to give this back to you.”
Rafe’s brow furrowed. He flipped the lid and said, “Your wedding ring.”
An audible ripple of disappointment from his family made Jenna cringe. For once in their overly articulate lives, they were all deathly silent, their full attention on Jenna and Rafe.
She sucked in a breath to fortify herself. But love and devotion made it easy to surge forward.
She said, “I want to give it back so that you can put it on my finger.” She smiled up at him with misty eyes. “If you’ll agree to marry me. Again.”
Rafe stared at her for endless seconds. Jenna couldn’t read the expression on his face. So she clarified by saying, “I’m asking you to marry me, Rafe.”
“Yeah…” He shook his head, emotion flickering in his eyes. “Of course you are. Because the traditional thing would be for me to ask you. But as we all know, you’re not the least bit traditional.”
She nibbled her lip a moment, then mused, “I don’t know… I liked wearing the ring. And I’d really like to take your name this time around.”
Rafe was also stunned into silence.
From behind Jenna, Vesta murmured, “Tesoro mio.”
“For Pete’s sake, man.” Tonio was much more vocal, stating, “When the woman you love proposes to you, cuz—and she’s as beautiful as this one—the polite thing to do is slip the ring on her finger. Not leave her hanging. Capisce?”
“It’s okay, Tonio,” Jenna said. “He might need some more time to—”
“No,” Rafe cut her off. “I don’t need another second.” He stared deep into her eyes and said, “I’d ask Father Michael to marry us right here, right now. But…he’s spending the holiday in Florence with his family.”
Jenna’s stomach fluttered. “I would have agreed. Right here. Right now.”
Rafe gazed lovingly at her. “You get a kick out of throwing me for a loop, don’t you, sweetheart?”