“Yes. Zach says you’ve got a head for figures. Well, frankly, I’m better at what happens in the field than I am with what happens on a balance sheet. I’ll teach you about the oil business and you can teach me finance—and after we put the London deal to bed, we’ll come home and make a success of Gordon Oil.”
Angelica stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” He frowned. “Although there are two conditions.”
Her smile dimmed. “What conditions?”
Cade put his hand under her chin and tilted her face to his.
“The first is that you have to tell me you love me.”
She smiled and linked her arms around his neck. “Of course I love you, you arrogant, opinionated, impossible man. If you weren’t so pigheaded, you’d have figured that out long ago.”
“Like the first time we made love, you mean.” Cade drew her close. “You’d never had a lover before me, had you, sweetheart?”
A soft blush spread over Angelica’s cheeks. “You were my first lover, Cade,” she said softly.
“And your last,” he said in whisper so fierce it thrilled her. He kissed her and then looked into her eyes. “So, what do you think? Would you like to come with me to London, then come back to the States and help me run Gordon Oil?”
“You said there were two conditions.”
“Absolutely.” Cade framed her face in his hands. “You have to love me—and you have to marry me, Angel. Otherwise, the deal’s off.”
Angelica leaned back in Cade’s arms. His expression was unyielding; it gave nothing away. But when she looked into his eyes, she could see the sweetly teasing laughter there.
“I don’t know,” she said. “That’s an awful lot to ask of a woman.”
He kissed her again, a long, deep kiss that stole her breath away.
“I love you, sweetheart,” he said. “And I always will.”
Angelica smiled. “You’d better,” she whispered, and then she kissed him with all the love that had been so long pent-up inside her heart.
* * * * *