“Sins?” Claire’s eyes were overflowing with tears as she listened to him speak. He was already punishing himself far more harshly than she ever would have. “You haven’t committed any sins, Luca. You’ve just been hurt. We’ve both been hurt. We let that disappointment get between us. We can’t let that happen again.”
A spark of hope glimmered in Luca’s eyes as he looked up at her. “Does that mean there’s a chance of us being a ‘we’ again?”
Claire nodded through her tears. “I love you too much to just walk away.”
A wide grin broke out across Luca’s face, making her chest ache. She couldn’t help returning the smile. “You love me?”
“I do.”
Luca looked up at her with a suddenly serious expression. “We’re in love, you’re having my baby and I’m already down on one knee. I guess there’s just one thing left to do, Claire.”
She stiffened in her seat at his words. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Was he actually...?
“Claire Marianne Lawson,” Luca began, “you came into my life in the most unexpected of ways and you gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine—our beautiful little Eva. Being with you has been some of the happiest times of my life. Every day I want to get out of bed and find a way to make you smile. I want to do that for the rest of my life. Will you allow me to do that by giving me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Before she could respond, Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. He lifted the lid, and Claire found a beautiful oval diamond solitaire inside. On one side was a round, dark blue sapphire. On the other was a lighter blue stone.
“The sapphire is for Eva, since she was born in September,” he explained. “The blue topaz is for the new baby. By my calculations, he or she should arrive in late December. If I’m wrong and the baby doesn’t show up until January, we’ll change it to a garnet.”
Claire’s eyes blurred with tears to the point that she couldn’t make out the details anymore. It didn’t matter. It was the most perfect ring he ever could’ve given her. She didn’t care how many carats it was or how much money he’d paid. It represented not only their commitment to each other, but their children. That made it the most precious piece of jewelry she could ever wear.
“Yes,” she said at last, realizing she hadn’t yet answered his very important question. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Luca took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. She glanced at it for only a moment before reaching out and pulling Luca’s face to hers. Their lips met, giving her the thrill she craved more than a ring.
He didn’t disappoint. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he stood up, pulling Claire out of the chair with him. She laced her fingers at his nape and pulled him closer to her. She couldn’t get enough of him. She’d come far too close to losing his touch forever.
Finally, Luca pulled away, still holding her tight in his arms. “We’d better stop. I don’t think Edmund would be too pleased with me making love to my fiancée on his conference-room table.”
Claire beamed at his use of her new title. “Well,” she argued, “considering how much my fiancé has paid for his services, we should be able to do whatever we’d like.”
“Soon,” he promised, planting another, shorter kiss on her lips. “We’ve just got to call off the dogs and I’ll whisk you home and make love to you all afternoon.”
“Before we go, I just have one question. How did you know my maiden name?” Claire asked as she looked up at him.
Luca gave her a sly smile. “You ran a background check on me, so I ran one on you. It’s only fair, right?”
She smiled wide. “Absolutely. Did you find out anything interesting while you were nosing around?”
“Just that you got a D in freshman chemistry, and your favorite food is listed on Facebook as Thai. Thai? Really?”
“I may need to update that,” Claire admitted with a smile. “I’m pretty partial to Italian lately.”
“You’d better be. So,” he continued with a heavy sigh. “Are we ready to let the sharks know the good news?”
Claire nodded. “Let’s get it over with so I can get you home and out of this suit.”
“Edmund!” Luca shouted toward the conference-room door.
A moment later the door burst open with both lawyers standing anxiously in the doorway. They looked curiously at Luca and Claire, wrapped in each other’s arms.