When Rich visited her in the hospital, it was the one and only time Gillian had seen overt concern for her on his movie star handsome face.
Her father never appreciated the reminder that he’d been vulnerable to worry for her and she assumed Maks would be the same, so she didn’t comment on it, but asked instead, “Where are we going for dinner?”
He’d said he wanted to take her somewhere special. Combined with the fact he’d asked for the results of her yearly physical and that his own GP perform it, she was pretty confident that tonight was supposed to end in a proposal.
One she had no intention of turning down.
She loved him wholly and completely. She’d never told him, either. She hadn’t admitted that to Nana, but the words had turned out surprisingly difficult for Gillian to utter.
“Chez Rennet.”
It was the first restaurant he’d ever taken her to. No, he hadn’t said the words, but Maks had a romantic streak he wasn’t that great at hiding.
“Terrific. I love Rennet’s food.” The chef and owner had a soft spot for both her and Maks as well.
Dining in his restaurant was always pleasurable and Gillian took that as further evidence Maks wanted tonight to be special.
“I know you do.” Again that serious look.
And it finally clicked. Tonight was a serious night, an evening that would culminate in the kind of conversation she was sure Maks only planned to have once in his life.
She hadn’t been nervous before, but knowing how important tonight was to him brought a flock of humming birds to take up residence inside Gillian.
She was getting engaged to a prince, and for the first time, she really thought about what it would be like to be a princess.
The prospect was more than a little daunting.
Nana had always said Gillian ignored what she did not want to deal with and she’d done a fair job of that while dating Maks, but his somber demeanor tonight forced her to evaluate what his proposal would mean to both of them.
Ultimately, however, it didn’t matter.
She would have given up the creature comforts of civilization and moved to Antarctica to be with him.
Taking on the role of princess and living at least half the year in the Baltic island country of Volyarus would not be allowed to frighten her.
She loved him, Maks the man.
She could and would live with Maksim of the House of Yurkovich, Crown Prince of Volyarus.