'God, Katy, I'm sorry. On our journey to Venice you looked so beautiful; the girl I'd loved as a child had turned into an elegant, sophisticated woman. I had made love to you the night before, but I was no nearer knowing the woman you had become. I was nervous, unsure, and naively I imagined that once I got my ring on your finger my troubles would be over, until you started to say you didn't want it.'
'I hated the thought of wearing a ring to fool your friends, to maintain your impeccable reputation,' she confessed. 'Now if it had been genuine...!' she grinned.
Jake frowned. 'The ring belonged to Grandmother Granton, and has always been passed down the female side of the family.' His serious explanation made Katy smile even wider. 'I would never have insulted you with anything but the genuine article, Katy.' Then slowly, reading the message in her gorgeous green eyes, he began to smile, a triumphant all-masculine grin. 'If I put the ring on your finger now, would you keep it?' he demanded hardily. 'And the commitment the ring implies?'
He was once again the arrogant man she knew and loved, all trace of vulnerability gone. But she still had a couple of queries before confessing her love completely. 'Why were you back from Switzerland so fast?'
'Because, my darling girl, one night away from you and I missed you like hell.' Their lips met in a very satisfying kiss.
'Oh, Jake, you really are a romantic at heart.' She smiled into his dark eyes and was rewarded with such a look of love and longing that her heart turned over in her breast.
'Damn it, I may as well confess all. My plan to court you had worked too well. There was a French reporter at the hotel who recognised me. He had the audacity to suggest, because you were not with me, that our affair was over. I felt like punching him on the jaw. Instead I told him that, on the contrary, you and I were to be married, and I hotfooted it back to England in case anyone else got the wrong idea.'
Katy silently blessed the French reporter.
'You still haven't answered my question,' Jake reminded her sombrely, and with just the slightest hint of vulnerability.
Katy could not resist teasing him. 'I will when you answer mine. Why did you drag me to every night-spot in London?'
'For the same reason I bought that bloody showy white Roller,' he responded impatiently. 'I told you before: I was attempting to "court" you, for want of a better word. On our charity date you said I had never taken you out, and certainly not in a white Rolls, and I thought it was what you wanted.'
It was Katy's turn to laugh, and in seconds Jake was joining in.
'God, Katy, it's a beautiful car, but I felt such a pretentious twit driving it. I have never been so relieved as when you said you did not like it and I could get back to my black BMW.'
'It won't be completely wasted, Jake. I can ride to our wedding in it.'
'Did you... will you... does that mean... ?'
'Yes, Jake.' She pressed her lips to his in a kiss full of love and laughter. 'Just one last thing: I love you and I love this house, but-----'
He pulled her closer, moulding her to his hard form. 'No buts, Katy; not any more.'
'I wondered about your work. Fowey is hardly convenient for you, Jake.'
Jake jumped up and, catching her hand, he pulled her to her feet. 'A guided tour is in order—one that ends in the bedroom, my love.'
Half an hour later Katy stood in the master bedroom, breathless, her green eyes luminous with love as she stared into Jake's handsome grinning face. He looked ten years younger and inordinately pleased with himself as he slipped the emerald and diamond ring on her finger.
'Satisfied, Katy, darling? I don't think I have missed anything. Do you?'
The house was a revelation, beautifully modernised but retaining all the original features. Except for the west wing, where to her amazement Jake had installed a mainframe computer and a suite of offices for himself, and a magnificent studio for Katy. It must have taken him months, if not years; the proof of his love was all around her.
'Oh, Jake,' she whispered, 'I do love you,' her eyes swimming with tears of happiness.
His fingers brushed her lips. 'Keep saying that, Katy, for the rest of our lives. I want you, I need you, I love you, and I will never let you out of my sight again... We are getting married as soon as is humanly possible, and no more argument.'
'Yes, Jake.' His lips replaced his fingers as he swung her up in his arms and gently laid her down on the wide bed.
'Now we have everything,' he breathed triumphantly as he lowered his hard male body down beside her, and gathered her once more into his arms.
Katy moved her hands and slipped them under his sweater, felt the warmth of his firm flesh beneath her fingertips, and she hugged him with all her might. Jake nuzzled her throat, and a deep sigh of pure contentment escaped her. At last secure in her love for him, she could not resist teasing him.
'Not quite, Jake.'
Jake lifted his head, his black eyes puzzled. 'What else?'
'You forgot the nursery.' For once Katy had the last word...