He shook his head. ‘Call it like you see it. That’s why I love you, Lara Callaway.’
Now she really couldn’t speak.
‘You what?’ It was more of a squeak than anything else.
He turned on the step towards her, sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly through his lips. When his brown eyes fixed on hers she thought she would melt. ‘It’s kind of hard when you don’t know what it is. It means when it hits you in the face like a wrecking ball you don’t actually know what’s happened.’ The lilt in his accent sent shivers down her spine. It must get stronger the more emotional he was feeling.
She could see from his face how much he was struggling with all this. The easiest thing in the world would be to reach out and touch him. Run her fingers through his dark hair, feel his stubble under the palm of her hand.
But he still hadn’t answered the question. And she really needed to hear him say it out loud.
‘So, what happened, Reuben? What are we? I seem to have half the planet telling me that you know.’
He gave a nod and looked a bit rueful. ‘I might have been a bit bad-tempered for a few days and some of my clients got together to bang my head on a brick wall.’ He held up his hands. ‘When I told them how much of a mess I’d made of things they were only too happy to tell me what they thought. I wasn’t sure if you’d speak to me so I decided to ask them to help me out.’
‘I think I just got the equivalent of a million-pound video clip.’
He sighed. ‘I think it might have been a bit more.’ His hand reached over slowly towards hers. ‘I’m sorry, Lara. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you exactly how I feel. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you outside the casino in Monte Carlo that I loved you and thought you were the most beautiful woman that I’d ever seen.’
Tears prickled in the backs of her eyes. Finally, they were getting somewhere.
She lifted her gaze to meet his. ‘Love can be a beautiful thing, Reuben. If you’ll let it in.’
She let her words hang in the air between them. There was no need to say more. He knew exactly what she meant. He fumbled behind his back and pulled out a brown paper package.
It wasn’t the most prestigious gift she’d ever seen. But it charmed with its simplicity. The wrapping was uneven—it seemed that Reuben had done this himself.
His hand closed over hers. ‘I listened to what you said to me. I’ve had a few days to think about it.’ He handed her the package.
She turned it over in her hands and released one of the edges, sliding her hand inside to pull out the gift.
It wasn’t what she’d expected. And part of her heart skipped a few beats as the smile spread slowly across her face. It was the most perfect, personal gift in the world.
‘Alice in Wonderland! You found it. How did you do that? It’s exactly the same as the one I had when I was a kid.’
His brown eyes fixed on hers as he smiled. ‘I worked out what year you were born and what edition you were likely to have had.’ He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. ‘I’ll let you into a secret. I have another three in case that was the wrong one.’
She ran her hand over the pale blue cover of the book. ‘No. This is definitely the right one. It’s perfect. Thank you.’
He hesitated then pointed at the book. ‘Open it.’
She took a deep breath and opened the hardback cover. A silver key on a red ribbon was sitting on the first page.
‘You told me I had to let people in. And I think you were right.’ He held up the key, ‘So, this is how I start. I’d like to let you in. I’d like to give us a chance. And this is my way. A key to my house and a key to my heart.’ He gave a wary little smile that warmed her heart.
He was nervous. He was really nervous about this. And this was what she loved. It didn’t matter about his bad-boy reputation. She knew the real Reuben Tyler. Not the guy who was the hotshot agent. Not the guy who had lots of money.
She knew the guy who’d practically had to bring himself up. The guy who’d had no real example of what love was. She knew the truly laid-bare Reuben Tyler—that was the guy she loved.
The key was dangling in the air. She reached out with an open palm and held it underneath. She had to push him just a little bit further. ‘So, what does this mean, Reuben? What are we?’
It was the million-dollar question. The thing she really needed him to embrace.
She heard him suck in a breath. ‘We’re whatever we want to be, Lara.’
She still hadn’t taken the key. She really wanted to just swoop in and grab it. But a little part of her heart needed a little more. She knew this was an enormous step for Reuben, but she didn’t just want a little part of him—she wanted the whole thing. The real deal.