“Wow,” said. “I don’t know what to say.”
Drake held her chair out for her before sitting down across from her. “You’ve already got some sun. Your cheeks are flushed.”
“Really?” She touched her face and frowned.
He took her wrist, bringing her hand down. “It looks beautiful on you.”
She looked him in the eyes, something she rarely did. “You confuse me,” she almost whispered.
“Don’t be confused. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but I’m trying now. I want more than babies from you, Mira.”
“You do?”
“Want to know what I really want?”
She nodded.
He took a breath before speaking. Drake hated the feeling of being vulnerable with a passion. It allowed people to hurt him, use him, destroy him. He’d learned to close himself off, to take what he wanted. With Mira, he was trying to change his ways.
“I want you to want to be here. With me.” He leaned back in his chair, hating how weak he felt. “If there was no contract, would you still be sitting here with me right now?”
He didn’t want to know the answer. Normally, he wouldn’t give a shit. All that mattered was the fact he had what he wanted. Mira changed all that because she’d already stolen his heart.
“I don’t want to turn back the clock,” she said. “I keep telling myself I wish none of this ever happened. That Nigel hadn’t screwed up, that you hadn’t asked me to sign the contract. But it’s all lies. I want to be with you, but I want to be more than a business deal or a side piece.”
“You are,” he said. “God, believe me, baby. All the money in the world can’t buy happiness, I know that. I’ve been trying to prove something my whole life and I still felt empty.”
“You have nothing to prove, Drake. I can love you for who you are.” She touched his hand. “I don’t care about your money or even this yacht. Don’t you understand that?”
“And that’s why you’re the woman I want, Mira.” They interlocked fingers. Intimacy was new to him, but he craved it with her. “The contract … I know it’s my own insecurities toying with me. A big part of me expects rejection. Same as when I was a kid.”
His parents had brutalized him as a kid. Life hadn’t been good, and he’d promised to make something better out of his life. He’d done it all on his own, but it was lonely at the top.
“Well, you don’t have to buy me, Drake.”
He reached into his jacket pocket. This was a big day, one he feared and savored at once. They’d only been together a few weeks, but he already knew there was no other woman for him.
Drake set the small black box on the center of the table beside the flower vase.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Open it.”
She moved with hesitation. He watched her every move and reaction. As soon as she opened the box, she stared directly at him. She froze in place, and a real sense of fear crept up on him.
He took the ring from the box and stood up so he could bend down on one knee in front of her. “Mira, will you please be my wife?” Drake held out the offering, the biggest fucking rock he could buy.
She touched the ring with a fingertip, then his face. Mira only nodded. He breathed again, not realizing he’d started holding his breath. “Yes,” she said as he slipped the ring on her finger.
He hugged her around the waist, still on his knees. She cradled his head, and he felt like everything in his world was perfect. When he finally looked back up at her, her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.
“I still want babies with you, Mira. But I want to be a family. A real family, not like what I had.”
He was still scared he’d fuck up being a father, that the abuse would be engrained in his DNA. But he didn’t want to be anything like his parents, and he couldn’t imagine a sweeter mother than Mira for his children.
“That’s what I want, too, Drake.”
He heard someone coming up the outside stairs. It had to be their dinner. The sun was already starting to set, hints of color decorating the evening sky. He got to his feet and sat back in his seat.
The food was set out on silver domed platters. Everything smelled delicious. Once the staff left them alone again, he put the cloth napkin on his lap. Mira copied him.
“I’m not used to fine dining,” she said.
“Get used to it.” He reached across the table, tracing her face with the backs of his fingers. He was completely enraptured by her. “I know you don’t care about the money, but I plan to spoil you.”
“I guess I could get used to it.”
He smiled at her. God, she made him happy.
“What can I offer you, Drake? I have nothing. I think my bank account is overdrawn.”
“I have everything money can buy. You’re what I want, baby. Your body, your mind, your love. All of it.”
“It’s already yours. I sold my soul to the devil, remember?”
She was teasing. He noted the playfulness in her tone. Not once had they really made love or connected beyond amazing orgasms. Now that Mira was willing and not pushing him away, things would finally change between them.
Tonight, he’d make her feel like a princess. He wanted her to remember the day he proposed to her. Tomorrow, he’d have to deal with that bitch Katherine. She knew too much. He may have a soft spot when it came to Mira, but he was cold as ice with everyone else,
