His smile widened. ‘Not particularly.’
‘Were kind to little old ladies and cooed at babies in their prams?’
‘Yes to the first, no to the second,’ he derided.
‘Wel , one out of four isn’t bad, is it?’ She looked up at him lovingly. ‘Lucas, I’ve been
waiting years for you to notice I’m a woman ‘
‘Oh, I noticed,’ he said drily.
‘Accept, then,’ she corrected dismissively. ‘I’m not about to let you go now,’ she warned.
‘Besides, if you cancel the wedding, I’ll go contrary on you and definitely be pregnant!’
The humour faded from his face, a haunted look in his eyes. ‘Children of our own are—
something I think should wait for a while, Christi,’ he said softly.
She could have hit herself for the way she kept saying the wrong thing. Of course he
wouldn’t want any children between them until he was sure Daisy and Robin felt secure of their
place in his life.
She gave him a bright smile. ‘Then you had better not cancel the wedding, had you?’ she
teased.
He looked down at her searchingly, his expression clearing slightly. ‘Maybe I’d better
not,’ he conceded huskily. ‘I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to resist you,’ he admitted
ruefully.
Christi frowned at him. ‘You really mean it about not making love to me until after we’re
married?’
He nodded abruptly. ‘I don’t think we should cloud the issue.’
‘But I want you, Lucas,’ she protested, knowing she needed that closeness between them.
He tapped her lightly on the nose. ‘You look like a spoilt little girl when you pout like
that,’ he murmured indulgently.
‘I was a spoilt little girl,’ she reminded irritably. God, after only one night in his arms,
the thought of abstinence made her ache inside!
‘You’re a spoilt big girl, too,’ Lucas teased affectionately. ‘But the answer is still no, Christi,’ he
added seriously. ‘Let’s give ourselves time to adjust to the idea of marrying each other, hmm?’
She didn’t want to give them time, she wanted to be in his arms tonight, and every
other night. But she could see by Lucas’s determined expression that he had made his decision
and he wasn’t about to change it. ‘If you insist,’ she muttered, giving in with a definite lack of
grace; she couldn’t help it, she had no pride left where this man was concerned. Lucas smiled at
her bad humour. ‘I insist,’ he drawled.
‘Well, you don’t have to sound so happy about it,’ she muttered complainingly, moving
out of his arms.
He gave a rueful smile. ‘Is that really how I sound?’ he mused, shaking his head. ‘I
want you, Christi, probably more than you want me,’ he insisted at her indignant snort. ‘I’m
not at all happy with letting you sleep alone for the next week, I just feel it’s the right
thing to do. Which isn’t to say that I intend staying away from you corn- pletely,’ he
murmured throatily before his lips claimed hers.
Christi felt as if she had been waiting for this kiss for ever; she put all her love into it,
feeling his instant response as she pressed eagerly against him.
Joy lit her heart as she knew he did want her, that he must be aching as badly as
she was right now.
She whimpered softly as he slowly caressed her body, his hands trembling slightly, their
mouths seeking, searching, learning all there was to know about each other.
Lucas was breathing heavily when he moved away slightly to rest his forehead on hers.
‘I can’t tempt you?’ she encouraged huskily.
His mouth twisted. ‘Oh, you can tempt me all too easily,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘But I’m
not going to let you,’ he added firmly, putting her away from him. ‘Shall we have breakfast
together?’ he encouraged softly.
She nodded wordlessly, her disappointment reflected in her eyes.
Long after Lucas had gone to his own apartment, Christi sat alone in the lounge, wanting him,
loving him...
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘I COULDN’T have chosen better for you myself,’ Dizzy murmured appreciatively at
her side, her green eyes gleaming with mischief.
Christi dragged her own bedazzled gaze away from Lucas as he stood confidently across
the room from them, talking to Zach. Tiny Laura was nestled comfortably in her father’s arms,
quite content to listen to the rich tones of the two men. ‘You didn’t, did you?’ she said
ruefully, knowing Dizzy well enough to realise that if ensuring that she dated Dick, Barry
and David hadn’t worked to bring herself and Lucas together then Dizzy would have gone
right on matchmaking until something did! Her friend turned to hug her. ‘I can’t tell you how
much I’ve longed for your wedding day,’ she glowed.
Her wedding day! She was now Mrs Lucas Kingsley—the second. Ordinarily, it wouldn’t have
bothered her that Lucas had been married before, but waiting for him to mention custody of
Robin and Daisy was starting to fray her nerves.
She knew he had seen the children during the last week, to explain to them that he intended
marrying ‘Aunty Christi’, but he hadn’t mentioned to Christi his plans for them at all.
It had been a full and busy week, made all the more so by her work on the
advertisements, but somehow they had managed to arrive at today with all the arrangements
going smoothly. As Lucas had done most of the organising, they probably dared not do anything
else! Only close relatives had been at the actual service, this lavish reception being given for
their other friends at one of London’s leading hotels.
‘I’ve longed for it, too.’ Christi returned her friend’s hug. ‘Although I’d almost given
up hope of it ever happening,’ she admitted softly. Lucas was her husband, her husband! Dizzy
grinned. ‘Zach was most impressed when Lucas turned up at the castle to ask for your hand in
marriage.’ Her loving gaze rested indulgently on her handsome husband.
Lucas had kept to his original plan to drive up to the Lake District to talk to Zach
personally, spending the night there with Dizzy and Zach, and driving back the next day to
assure Christi everything was agreed.
She gave a rueful smile. ‘Zach’s a pushover for the old traditions.’
Dizzy gave her a coy look from beneath lowered lashes. ‘He’s a pushover for new ones,
too,’ she murmured throatily.
It never ceased to amaze her how Dizzy had changed since her marriage to Zach; men
certainly hadn’t been a part of her life until she had fallen in love with him. Now Dizzy was
completely sure of her own femininity, secure in her husband’s love.
Christi felt a wistful ache in her chest, wishing she were secure of Lucas’s love. But he
had still made no mention of the emotion, despite the fact that their goodnights had
become longer and longer during the last week, each of them reluctant to go to their lonely
beds. She would have forgotten Lucas’s decision concerning that in a moment if he would have
let her, but Lucas seemed determined to play the gentleman now that their wedding was
being planned.
‘Uh-oh,’ Dizzy said indulgently as Laura began to squirm restlessly in her father’s arms,
giving out a little choked cry at the same time. ‘My daughter feels it’s time she had
something to eat,’ she excused absently, her attention all on the tiny bundle who had
brought so much more happiness to her and Zach’s lives.
Christi watched enviously as Zach’s autocratic face filled with unashamed love as he
turned to his wife, handing her the baby, excusing both of them as he accompanied Dizzy to
the room where she could nurse Laura.
‘You look as if you’ve lost a pound and found a penny,’ David murmured softly at her
side.
She turned to him with a bright smile, the smile fading a little as she saw his own pain
behind the words. She squeezed his arm emotionally. ‘There is another door open out there
somewhere, David,’ she assured him huskily.
He shook off his despondent mood with effort. ‘Hey, this is a wedding, remember?’ he
teased. ‘And all us lucky male guests get to kiss the bride!’ He suited his actions to his words,
gathering her into his arms to kiss her soundly on the mouth. ‘Tim,’ he still held her as he
looked down at her warmly, ‘Lucas is the lucky man.’
She gave a pained frown, pulling out of David’s arms to shoot an uncomfortable glance
across the room to where Lucas was now talking to one of his friends. He didn’t appear to have
noticed the exchange between David and herself, and she turned away gratefully. Having
lunch with another man was one thing, letting him kiss her was something else, even at her
own wedding! David was watching her shrewdly. ‘Although maybe he still doesn’t appreciate
that yet,’ he said thoughtfully, blue eyes questioning.
Christi gave a bright smile. ‘He turned up for the wedding, didn’t he?’ she teased.
David looked at Lucas with narrowed eyes. ‘Someone that looks like him did,’ he
nodded slowly.
Her cheeks were flushed. ‘What do you mean?’ He shrugged. ‘I want you to be
happy with Lucas, Christi