She laughed softly. “No, I meant this….”
“Ah, looking after you?”
She nodded. “Why?”
“Because I love you.”
Imogen was stunned. The way he’d said it, so matter-of-factly, while he continued to undo the rope that bound her to him made her think she’d imagined it. She stared at him in disbelief until he suddenly looked at her, catching her, and her face heated. She tried to look away, but he drew her back to him with one finger beneath her chin.
“Don’t be so surprised. You are lovable, much as you hate to admit it.”
She was floored—not only by what he said, but by the easy way he spoke to her now, after the intensity of what had gone before.
He looked at her expectantly. “This is the bit where you tell me how you feel,” he added.
She rolled her eyes. “You know how I feel or I wouldn’t be here, allowing myself to be exposed this way.”
He flashed her a challenging glance.
“Okay, I love you. Damn it, Giles. I fell in love with you ages ago, but I was scared.”
“No need.” The simple comment was an understatement, but it meant so much. Unbinding her hands, he drew them to his mouth and kissed the tender skin inside her wrists. “I was serious about sharing breakfast too. Starting tomorrow morning. You’ll have breakfast here with me.”
“But I don’t have a change of….”
He put his finger over her lips. “And I want us to spend our evenings together. We can even talk about work sometimes, if you insist.”
The final resistance she clung to began to dissolve. He really did know her. She chuckled at the idea of it. “But we might end up arguing over policy in our own time.”
“That’s what couples who work together do.”
“Couples..?” She felt dizzy even though she was on her back.
“Yes, Imogen, couples. That’s what we’re talking about here.”
Before she could even think of objecting, he kissed her, halting her words.
Her emotions soared and for the first time Imogen allowed herself to sink into the moment completely, her arms wrapped around him—the only man who could anchor her, the only man who knew how.
* * * * *