‘I thought it was because you felt sorry for me.’
‘It was because I was falling in love with you. Almost from that first moment. You’re very easy to love.’
Tears pricked her eyes and her throat felt full. ‘This sort
of thing doesn’t happen to me.’
‘Yes, it does. It’s happening now.’ He was smiling and Liv shook her head, the tears blurring her vision.
‘No. It doesn’t—and I can’t…’ She brushed her hand across her face. ‘Any moment now you’re going to tell me this is a joke.’
‘Then perhaps this will convince you.’ Stefano reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny silver box. ‘I went out yesterday and bought this for you.’
‘Yesterday? But you were skiing…’ Her voice cracked and she stared at the box, wondering whether it was real or whether her mind had conjured up this whole situation.
‘I was choosing a ring suitable for my future wife. I knew it had to be something extremely special because she is extremely special.’ Stefano flicked open the box and a huge diamond solitaire winked and flashed in the winter sunlight.
Liv gave a gasp of shock and then lifted her eyes to his. ‘It’s…a ring. You bought me a ring.’
‘You’re right.’ His eyes laughed into hers. ‘It’s a ring. It’s tradition for the man to give his woman a ring when he’s proposing.’
She could hardly breathe. ‘You want to marry me.’
‘That’s what I’ve been saying for the past five minutes.’ Stefano’s gaze flickered briefly to the front of the sleigh. ‘I hate to hurry this romantic moment, but Max is going to get bored with those horses shortly and then the goopy, mushy stuff is going to have to finish.’
‘Your father—’
‘My father loves you, but even if he didn’t it wouldn’t make a difference. He’s not the one marrying you. I am.’
‘You are?’ She looked at him, unable to believe that life could transform from misery to perfect pleasure in such a short time. ‘But yesterday, when I told you how I felt—’
‘I was so stunned by what you said that I didn’t even stop you walking away. But you did me a favour. I realised that there was no point in holding back and giving you time to adjust to the fact that we were together. I could see that words alone wouldn’t be enough to convince you that I love you.’
Hardly daring to breathe, Liv gazed at the glittering diamond and then at him. ‘Stefano, you couldn’t have found a woman with less to offer you. I don’t have any money at all and—’
‘Fortunately I have more than enough for both of us.’ His possessive gaze was fixed on her in blatant appreciation and she felt herself blushing.
‘Don’t look at me like that.’
‘I’m going to be looking at you like that for the next fifty years at least, tesoro,’ he drawled softly, ‘so you’d better get used to it.’
Liv lifted a hand to her throat. ‘I want to be with you more than anything, you know that. But I can’t marry you.’
His dark eyes narrowed ominously. ‘Liv—’
‘How can I marry you? I don’t have a single penny in my bank account and you’re a multi-millionaire. You’ve bought me a ring that must have cost more than I earn in a year! It’s very easy for you to dismiss that, but it matters! If I marry you, you’ll think I’m a gold-digger,’ she said passionately and when he started to roar with laughter she glared at him in exasperation. ‘Why is that funny?’
‘Because for a moment I really thought you were refusing me,’ he gasped through his laughter, ‘and having never proposed to a woman before, you might have done irreparable harm to my arrogance and my ego.’
‘I’m being serious, Stefano.’
‘So am I. Fortunately for both of us, I have considerable experience with gold-diggers, tesoro. Believe me, you don’t have any of the necessary qualifications.’
‘You don’t understand. I like the fact that you have money,’ Liv said honestly, watching for his reaction with something close to dread, afraid that she might drive him away. ‘I like the money, Stefano! I like the fact that you don’t have to worry about paying bills. I like the fact you can just wave your credit card, snap your fingers and solve a million problems. I even like being given diamond earrings and beautiful clothes! There. Does that shock you?’
‘Liv, you’ve been counting every penny for the past four years. It’s entirely natural that having access to money should come as a relief. To not like the money would make you stupid, no? And you certainly are not stupid.’ He was watching her with a considerable degree of amusement in his eyes. ‘Just enjoy it. Why are you worrying?’
‘Because I’m afraid you’ll think my feelings for you are tied up with the money.’