‘Maybe, but...I don’t know.’
‘You infuriating woman,’ Kris growled as he sprang down from the ladder.
‘Feel this...’ Pressing her back into him, Kimmie wrapped Kris’s arms around her heavily pregnant belly. ‘The baby’s turning somersaults. I thought you’d want to feel...’
‘I do want to feel.’ Brushing her hair aside, he kissed her neck as they stood motionless in wonder.
‘Pretty good, huh?’ Kimmie commented happily.
‘We seem to have got the recipe right,’ Kris agreed, smiling.
Turning her, he kissed her tenderly and held her close. ‘For ever and always,’ he reminded her.
They strolled down the same hall in the same community centre that had become a magnet for those eager to view the works of new artists. ‘I hope you can feel my appreciation for your work?’ Kris teased as he dragged Kimmie close at the end of the hall.
‘I can certainly feel something,’ she confirmed. ‘Do you have any idea of how sexy you look when you’re up a ladder in rugged boots, snug-fitting jeans and a soft wool jumper with the sleeves rolled back to reveal forearms like steel bars?’
Kris pulled a face. ‘Honestly? It’s never occurred to me.’ He laughed. ‘You, on the other hand...’
‘Not here,’ Kimmie protested. ‘Anyone could walk in.’ The hall was a public place and plenty of people were working on preparation for this latest exhibition.
‘Isn’t that half the fun?’ Kris suggested as he took full advantage of the love of his life.
‘For you, maybe,’ Kimmie gasped as he upped the risk, making her groan with pleasure. ‘Don’t you need to be doing something useful with that spirit level?’ she asked, glancing wildly at the picture he’d been hanging.
‘I do,’ he agreed. ‘I definitely do. Are you complaining?’ he asked as she gasped.
‘Never!’
EPILOGUE
THE KAIMOS WEDDING was held in the grand salon on board Kristof Kaimos’s fabulous superyacht, affectionately nicknamed the Office Block by its new joint owner, his beloved.
Everyone agreed the couple were perfectly matched, even though they were so utterly different. Take one hard, driven businessman and one boho artist, mix them together, and the result was a loving family with just the right balance of artistry and commerce to keep love at the top of both their agendas.
No one who saw them with their infant child could deny the love that radiated from them. There had never been a more beautiful bride, people said, even if her hair was a little unusual. And as for her husband, the impossibly handsome Kristof Kaimos, billionaire, now a lover and a father, who didn’t care if the world knew he was besotted with his wife, and enchanted by their baby daughter, Camilla. His happiness had only seemed to make him more successful in business, and Kaimos Shipping had gone from strength to strength.
Everyone who mattered to the couple joined them on their happy day, and Kimmie was proud to wear the ring that had meant so much to Kris’s uncle. Happily, another friendship seemed to be blossoming between Theo Kaimos and Kyria Demetriou and, as far as Kimmie and Kris were concerned, that put the seal on the day.
Kris had never seen anyone lovelier than his bride and knowing Kimmie was quite capable of choosing her own path through life, and yet had chosen to walk that path with him, was something he valued more than he could say...though he did have a good go at saying it, because they’d vowed to be honest with each other always and express their feelings fully.
No one mattered more to Kris than this woman standing at his side and their baby daughter. Who knew he could become such a devoted family man?
‘I knew,’ his uncle had assured him with vigour. ‘I always knew that when the right woman came along you would be smitten. It just took a little longer than I thought for you to realise Kimmie was the one. Me? I knew right away.’
‘Of course you did, Uncle.’
But now, as he looked at Kimmie, he knew his uncle was right. He should have been telling her how special she was from the very first moment they’d met instead of fighting falling in love quite so hard. Each day he’d learned more about her, and each day he had more reason to love her than before, and he told her this in every way he could.
The fresh white rose petals he’d had specially imported sent billows of glorious scent wafting around her. The setting was everything he’d hoped for, and that was all thanks to his wonderful staff, under the dedicated supervision of Mandy, ably assisted by Kyria Demetriou.
‘I love you,’ Kimmie whispered as the ceremony was about to begin.
Quite suddenly it was as if he, Kimmie and their baby daughter, who was safe in Kyria Demetriou’s arms, were the only three people present. ‘I love you too,’ he said, staring deep into Kimmie’s eyes, and then the congregation fell silent and the marriage ceremony began.
The love surrounding them was almost like a living thing, Kimmie thought and, yes, she wanted to paint it.
‘Stop designing sketches in your mind, and just say “I do”,’ he advised, staring down in a way that made her body tremble and yearn for his touch.
‘I do,’ she stated clearly, and then the minister declared them husband and wife.
* * *
‘So my dress isn’t too plain for you?’
‘Your dress is perfect.’
‘Perfect to take off?’
‘That too,’ Kris confirmed, smiling into her eyes when they were alone together at last.
She wore the simple ivory silk sheath with fresh flowers in her hair and the beautiful star sapphire ring as her only other adornment. As she’d asked, her wedding ring was a plain gold band.
‘I love painting hands and rings that seem to grow into a person’s hand as they get older, just as you are part of me,’ she’d told Kris.
‘I’ll never change you,’ he said now as her dress pooled on the floor at Kimmie’s feet.
‘It’s too late,’ she said. ‘You’ve already changed me.’
‘As you have changed me,’ he said and, lifting her hands to his lips, Kris kissed each one in turn in a silent pledge of trust and love.
* * *