‘Really?’ Quinn murmured, not even slightly ruffled by this opinion. ‘So, what do you make of this?’
‘What is it?’ Magenta asked, staring at the small velvet box.
‘Why don’t you open it and find out?’
She did as Quinn said, only to feel every bit of blood drain from her face. ‘It’s fabulous,’ she whispered. And it truly was.
‘It’s no more than you deserve,’ Quinn told her, removing the flawless blue-white diamond and placing it on Magenta’s wedding finger. ‘Think of it as a bonus for landing the magazine account. I saw it in the jeweller’s window and couldn’t walk past it. For some reason, it called to me.’
‘And that’s all it is—a bonus for my work?’
‘What do you think?’ Catching Magenta into his arms, Quinn held her close. ‘Do you want the full-on kneeling-in-the-mud routine, or can I ask you standing up?’
‘On your knees,’ she commanded.
‘Heartless woman.’
Heart full, she thought.
‘Magenta Steele, will you make me the happiest man in the world by consenting to be my wife? What am I talking about?’ Quinn said, breaking off to shake his head. ‘I’m already the happiest man in the world.’
‘We don’t need to get married?’
‘To bring up a baby in a household full of love together? No, I don’t think we do.’ Catching hold of Magenta’s hands, Quinn held them to his warm lips for a few intense moments, and when he looked up again his eyes were dancing with the humour she loved. ‘But if you want the ring…’
‘Stop teasing me, Quinn,’ she warned him. And, instead of telling him to get up, she knelt down too. ‘I’ll take you with or without the ring, as you well know.’
‘And I want you whether we get married or not—and that would be for ever,’ Quinn added, staring deep into Magenta’s eyes. ‘Not just for the duration of a dream.’