His Lost-and-Found Bride

She met his gaze with tear-filled eyes. ‘You. I’ve avoided you for so long. Seeing you again, being together, remembering everything we’ve shared together, I couldn’t hide away from it any more. It’s just been bubbling underneath the surface the whole time. I couldn’t keep it locked away any more. Not if I want to live.’

He gave his head a shake. ‘But you wouldn’t talk to me in Venice. You said you couldn’t do it.’

She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. ‘I know.’ Now she reached up and touched his face, his jaw. ‘I think something just lined up for us, Logan.’ She pointed towards the fresco. ‘If you hadn’t got this job, if this fresco hadn’t been found, we probably wouldn’t have met again.’ She placed her hand over her heart. ‘I needed this. I needed all this to happen.’ She looked up towards the fresco. ‘Hundreds of years ago Burano must have met someone, must have known a new mother, to capture the love and adoration in his painting. Because he’s captured it so beautifully. When I first saw his fresco I wouldn’t let the painting touch me. I wouldn’t let it inside. I was jealous. I couldn’t acknowledge the painting because I wanted to be that person. I wanted to be that mother who looks at her baby with such joy and pleasure, wondering what the world will hold for them.’ The tears were falling freely down her face again.

All he wanted to do was comfort her. All he wanted to do was love her.

He sucked in a deep breath. ‘Lucia, you can be that person. I want you to know that I love you. I want you—just the way you are. But if you want to try and have a family again then I’ll be with you, every step of the way.’ He stroked his thumb across her cheek. ‘Likewise, if you just want to grow old and grey together and wander through the streets of Venice, or Florence, or even the Tuscan hills, I’ll do that with you too. As long as I’m with you, I know I’ll be happy.’

Her hands kept trembling as she wound them around his neck again, pressing her body against his and whispering in his ear. ‘Can I be enough for you, Logan? Enough for you on my own? What if we weren’t meant to have babies? What if that’s never going to happen for us?’

He stood up, pulling her to her feet alongside him but keeping their bodies locked close together. He slid his hands along the satin slip covering her back and anchored her to him. He kissed one cheek and then the other. ‘Then that’s the way things are supposed to be. As long as I’m with you I can take whatever hand life deals us.’

He bent to meet her lips.

It was like the first kiss all over again.

This was the woman he’d fallen in love with all those years ago.

This was the woman he’d had to allow to walk away even though it had broken his heart.

This was the mother of his child.

This was his Lucia.

Her body was pressed against his and she responded to every touch, her fingers threading through his hair. Her rose scent wound around him, pulling him in in every way.

Her cold skin heated quickly, her lips matching every kiss.

For Logan, it was like coming home.

When Lucia finally pulled back he was shocked. She lifted a finger and placed it against his lips, keeping her body tight against his.

She took a deep breath. ‘Logan, if this is going to work, there’s something I need to do.’

His breath was caught somewhere in his throat. After twelve years there was finally a chance of a relationship again with Lucia. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t agree to.

‘What is it? What do you need to do? Because I don’t want to lose you again. I don’t want this chance to slip away from us.’

Her voice was trembling and her hand slid down his arm, interlocking their fingers. ‘I was kind of hoping you would agree to do it with me.’

Her dark eyes met his gaze and he squeezed her hand tightly. ‘Anything, Lucia,’ he whispered. ‘Anything for you.’

CHAPTER TEN

IT WAS A gorgeous summer’s day with the sun high in the sky above them.

Logan was standing in front of her in his trademark cream suit and pale blue shirt. ‘Ready?’ he asked.

Her stomach was churning. Over and over. She would have tossed and turned last night if he hadn’t held her safely in his arms. She’d even bought herself a new dress. Pale pink with tiny flowers. It was ridiculous. She didn’t need it. But she’d wanted to wake up this morning and feel like everything was new.