Millionaire Under The Mistletoe

Callum crossed the distance between them in two long strides. Catching her by her shoulders, he growled down at her. “Listen to me. I wouldn’t allow anyone to talk to you like that-and I don’t care that he’s a shareholder.”

She tipped her head back. “That’s very noble, but-”

“It’s not noble. I-”

He stilled. He’d almost said, I want to marry you.

Callum froze. He couldn’t propose marriage just to stop Miranda feeling humiliated by Gordon’s attack-even though he’d been tempted to punch the man in the jaw instead of banging the table.

Yet in the past he’d asked her to marry him to be his hostess…

That reason was no better. Damn it, he wanted her to marry him for himself.

The bombshell thought shocked him rigid.

Why?

Because she was special. Like no other woman he’d ever met.

“Of course it was noble.” She was looking at him like he’d done something heroic.

He shook his head to clear it. “I was angry. He was insulting you.”

“No one has ever defended me like that before.”

He didn’t suppose they had. Miranda had always protected her mother and brother. There’d been no one to protect her. His chest expanded with emotion. “That’s about to change.”

She laughed, and the bittersweet sound caught at his gut.

“Callum, he didn’t say anything that both you and I know isn’t true. Petra would make you a fabulous wife. And given the fact that my father stole from you, then committed suicide, it’s true that will make me a scandalous girlfriend.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” Her eyes had gone dark. “And how can you trust me?”

“Miranda-”

A knock sounded on the door.

Callum marched over and yanked it open. “What?” he demanded of Fraser.

“Have you seen Petra?”

“No,” he snapped, and started to close the door in Fraser’s face.

His brother stuck a foot in the crack. “You let me believe she broke it off with you.”

“Not now.” He glared at this brother. “Leave us in peace.”

Fraser removed his foot, and this time Callum closed the door with a determined thud.

Miranda had moved to the window. She stood looking at the view over Lake Windermere down at the bottom of the property, the sag of her shoulders revealing how troubled she was.

Tenderness filled him. “Stop fretting.”

She turned to meet his gaze over her shoulder. “Trust me, I have reason to fret. Every single thing that Gordon said was true.” She shook her head as she started to object. “I like your parents so much. I was looking forward to coming back with you, riding the horses.” She gestured at the paddocks visible to one side of the house.

At the yearning in her voice, cold fingers of dread danced over his skin.

Did he want this? A woman who loved his horses, his home, his family…but not him? Out in the corner of the paddock he could see Red pawing through the snow. In a flash of insight he saw what marrying him would mean-it would give Miranda back everything she’d lost and finally assuage his guilt.

And he’d get the woman he wanted more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Callum sucked in a breath. He crossed the room, and slid his arms around her shoulders from behind and drew her to his chest.

Beneath his palms the woolen cardigan she wore was soft, and he could feel the rise and fall of her rib cage as she breathed. His fingers crept forward. Below the cardigan, the edge of her wraparound dress had parted and his fingertips brushed her bare skin. Need swamped him. God. Just by breathing she made him desire her. He resisted the fierce urge to yank her up against his hardening body. Now was not the time.

The thought he’d had when he’d woken with her in his arms this morning returned.

This woman belonged with him.

He stared blindly over her shoulder at a red-breasted robin chirping in the undergrowth beneath the window.

If she married him, he would have her in his bed each night instead of seeing her only through functions she catered for him-or through communications about her brother. Surely this was a win-win situation?

So why wasn’t he asking, begging, her to marry him?

Because this wasn’t what he wanted.

He wanted Miranda to love him.

And there was no chance of that ever happening.

With a hop, the robin he’d been staring at vanished into the undergrowth, bringing Callum back to life. His hands dropped from her shoulders. He felt the loss of the softness of her skin acutely.

He loved her.

God.

Despite the success of his parents’ marriage he’d always known that love wasn’t easy or straightforward, and that it would make an emotional mess of him-and he’d been right. Good thing she didn’t know how he felt.

But he had to ask again. Give her the opportunity to accept what he could give her. Because then he’d get what he wanted more than life. Her.

Callum drew a shuddering breath. “Miranda, you really could marry me-and make my dumb suggestion a reality.” He directed the words at golden curls that cascaded down the back of her head, relieved he didn’t have to meet her eyes. This way she would never know how desperately he craved to hear her say yes. “We would go downstairs and celebrate our engagement. What do you say?”

Miranda spun around.

Callum was asking her to marry him? There was an expression in his eyes that caused her heart to ache.

A flutter of hope made her stretch out her hand to touch his chest-to check he was real, that this wasn’t a dream.

The tension of the moment was shattered by the jazzy “Jingle Bells” ringtone of her phone in her cardigan pocket. Definitely no dream. Life had intruded.

Miranda hesitated. It might be Adrian, calling her back after terminating their call yesterday, but she didn’t want to speak to him. Not now, not while Callum was asking her to marry him. Not when she knew Gordon was right. She had been less than trustworthy. Her stomach clenched.

“Answer it.”

Reluctantly she hauled it out of her pocket, but by that time the ringing had stopped. She stared at the screen and her heart sank. “It was Adrian.”

“Do you want to call him back?”

She shook her head. “I called him yesterday-he’s probably just returning my call.” No point telling Callum her brother had hung up on her because she’d wanted permission to tell Callum the truth.

As she was about to pocket the phone, it started to ring again, loud and intrusive. Faced with no choice under Callum’s expectant gaze, she answered it.

Impatient now, Callum thrust his hands into the pockets of his trousers and turned away to stare back out the window, trying not to listen to Miranda’s conversation with her brother. He searched for the robin but couldn’t find it.

Miranda was going to accept his proposal. He’d seen it in her eyes.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he anticipated Fraser’s surprise. Callum would be the first of the Ironstones to marry. For once he would’ve beaten his brothers at something life-changing. There was some small masculine satisfaction in that.

Behind him Miranda’s voice lowered, catching his attention.

“I can’t talk about that, Adrian. Not now.”

What was going on? What did she need to speak to her brother about that she couldn’t say in front of him?

Frowning slightly, he swiveled to face her.