Innocent in the Ivory Tower

He’d said he loved her. Twice. Maisy couldn’t help reaching up to lay her hand against his chest. The heat and solidity of him felt like utter security.

‘I realised I was pushing you away when all I wanted was intimacy. I just didn’t know how to protect myself and still have everything with you.’

Maisy touched him with her other hand, just resting it on his chest, her fingers slightly curling around the fabric. He seemed to feel so guilty, and she didn’t want that.

‘I knew I’d made a colossal mistake,’ he said roughly. ‘But that meant re-evaluating everything I knew and I was struggling with it. When Leo died I was lost.’

His heavy sigh had her hands tightening on his shirt.

‘Nothing felt right,’ he said simply. ‘And then I found you and it all fell into place.’

His eyes hadn’t left hers once. His sincerity was making it difficult for her not to respond, yet she wanted to hear all of this. Desperately.

‘Watching you with Kostya, seeing how much of a mother you’ve clearly been to him from birth, and then having you open yourself up to me. We’re both very lucky males to have you in our lives.’

Maisy bit her lip.

‘It just took me a little time to adjust, and you kept pushing,’ he confessed with a half-smile, then reached out and gently thumbed the line puckering between her brows. ‘I’m glad you did, dushka. You made me face a few home truths. It was only when you made it clear what you wanted that I realised I’d been kidding myself.’

‘I didn’t think I had much to lose,’ she confessed. ‘You would have pushed me away anyway. You didn’t want me to love you.’

He framed her face with his big hands. ‘Maisy Edmonds, as fast as I was backing up, I had no intention of losing you.’

‘You sent me back here.’

‘You asked me to. I gave you what you wanted.’

‘If you’d argued with me I would only have resented you,’ she admitted honestly, more to herself than him. ‘I needed to find myself again, Alexei. I needed to see if I could do it on my own.’

‘Look at you.’ He gave her that slow smile that made her thighs turn to water and everything tingle. ‘The working girl.’

‘Damn right.’

Alexei was tangling one hand through her curls. ‘Now I’ve come for what I want.’

‘You’re very sure of yourself,’ Maisy murmured, thrilled.

‘Da, but you like me that way, dushka.’

‘Bossy.’

‘Taking you over, not giving you a choice.’

He leaned in and kissed her, and his tenderness was the undoing of her.

He drew back enough to say, ‘But you’ve got all the choices now, Maisy. Come back with me, be a family with me; share your life with me. You can have it all, dushka.’

Maisy gripped hold of his shirt front, making a mess of the sleek tailored lines.

‘I want to be with you, Alexei.’

It was an echo from another time, another place, and he recognised it immediately. By a fountain in a garden, when they’d both been reeling from the impact of what being together might mean.

He knew exactly what it meant. The rest of his life was standing in front of him.

Gently disengaging her hands, he dropped down onto one knee and looked up at her. ‘I love you, Maisy Edmonds. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

Maisy stared at him for what felt like the longest time. He was in love with her and he wanted to marry her.

‘Oh, yes, I’m sure I can do that,’ she responded, a big smile breaking out across her face.

Maisy’s eye caught the glitter of the ring he had produced and she swallowed hard.

‘Take a deep breath,’ he murmured. ‘I know you’re not that keen on diamonds.’

She had a hard time not snatching it from him. Then she realised the ring was glittering because Alexei’s hands were shaking.

Alexei slid the ring onto her finger. It fitted almost perfectly.

‘It’s so beautiful,’ she whispered.

‘You’re so beautiful.’

‘That’s my line, dushka.’

He was on his feet, gathering her into his arms. The relief on his face was almost as touching as his sweet, old-fashioned proposal. Maria had once told her that underneath all the surface swagger Alexei was as traditional as they came, but she hadn’t listened.

She was listening now.

‘I love you, Maisy.’ His eyes deep in hers, his voice was heartbreakingly sincere. ‘Let’s go home.’