LITMIR.BIZ

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took Boris and went to bed. As usual, since Dami had left her, sleep didn’t come easy. She missed making love with him, but she missed his big body wrapped around her in sleep even more.

      That didn’t make a lot of sense, and she knew it. They’d been lovers for such a short time. Two nights in November, five in December. It was nothing. A blink of an eye, really.

      And yet for her it didn’t seem to matter how few the nights had been. Her bed felt too big and too empty without him.

      In the morning, the sun was shining, making the snow on the windowsills glitter like sequins on a white party dress. She plugged in her tree lights, made herself breakfast and counted her blessings. After a second cup of coffee, she started gathering up the dirty glassware and dishes from the night before.

      When the doorbell rang, she assumed it had to be Bob or Andrew. They’d left the Cranium game behind last night. She grabbed the game from the coffee table and carried it to the door, disengaging the locks and pulling it open without even stopping to check the peephole.

      Dami stood on the other side.

      A strange, incoherent little sound escaped her at the sight of him. She gaped at him, not believing, certain she had to be seeing things, that she’d missed him so much she’d gone delusional.

      Dear Lord, he looked good. It wasn’t fair that he looked so good. He wore a fabulous camel coat over one of those perfectly tailored designer suits of his. His dark eyes locked on hers and something inside of her went all wimpy and quivering. “Hello, Luce.”

      She almost dropped the Cranium game. But then by some miracle, she managed to hold on to it. She backed up without speaking, clearing the doorway.

      He came in, bringing with him the wonderful, subtle scent of his cologne and a bracing coolness in the air. He must have come up straight from outside.

      She gulped as he shut the door. “Uh. Where’s your bodyguard?”

      “I sent him on to the apartment.”

      “Oh. Well.” Her mind seemed filled with cotton, her thoughts not connecting properly. At the same time, her whole body ached. She wanted to launch herself at him, grab on tight and never let go. But no way was she doing that.

      Okay, he might really be standing in front of her after all. But his presence didn’t mean he’d come for her. He could be in New York for any number of reasons.

      “Have a seat.” She set the game on a side table and gestured in the general direction of a chair.

      He stayed where he was. “God. Luce.” He said it low. Soft and rough at the same time. As if he really had missed her. As if his arms ached to reach for her.

      Or maybe that was only wishful thinking on her part. “What are you doing here?”

      He stuck his hands in the pockets of his beautiful coat. He looked down at his Italian shoes, then lifted his head again and locked those amazing dark eyes on her. There was pain in those eyes. And hope, too. And longing. Wasn’t there?

      She didn’t dare to believe.

      But then he spoke. “I was wrong. So wrong. I didn’t know, not really. I didn’t let myself see. I’d convinced myself it wasn’t going to happen for me, that somewhere along the line, between one barely remembered liaison and the next, I’d lost whatever it takes, that willingness of the heart. I’d lost whatever chance I had of finding a woman to love, a woman I could love with everything in me, the way my father loves my mother. But then I met you.”

      She put up a hand, palm out. “I don’t understand. You said you couldn’t love me....”

      “Luce. I was wrong. You’re the one. The only one for me. I’m here because I had to come, to take a chance that maybe you might forgive me for being such a complete ass, for turning you down, for not seeing the truth sooner, for not letting you show me what you’ve been trying to show me. I’m hoping, I’m praying that just maybe it’s not too late.”

      Tears scalded the back of her throat. She gulped them down. “But how? When...?” Her throat clutched and she couldn’t finish.

      “Yesterday,” he said. “Christmas Day. I was at my favorite café in La Cacheron. You remember the one?”

      “I remember, yes.”

      His eyes went bleak. “Vesuvia cornered me there. She started in on me about how I was going to have to marry her.”

      “Because of the Marriage Law, you mean?”

      “That’s right. She started laying out all the reasons why she was the right wife for me. She said she understood me, she knew what I required in a wife. And then, out of nowhere, shocking the hell out of both of us, I just said it. I said it out loud without even stopping to think about it.”

      “Said what?”

      “That what I require is love and forever. That I’m in love with you. That you’re the only one I would ever marry, the only woman for me.”

      The chains of hurt around her heart loosened. The sunny day seemed brighter still. Could this really be happening? Could all of her dreams, every last shining one of them, miraculously come true? “I don’t... Dami, what are you saying? Are you asking me to marry you?”

      He raked a hand back through that thick midnight hair. “I know you’re young. I know it’s probably too soon to be talking about marriage. I was just telling you what I said to Vesuvia, which was only the simple, absolute truth. I love you, Lucy Cordell. I want only you. I want us to have a life together. I’ve been thinking about how we might make that happen. I know your dream is to go to school here. So if you would have me, if you would give me another chance to show you all you mean to me, I would make New York my home base. I would move in upstairs. We would move in upstairs. You could keep this place, if you want it, for your work. Or whatever....”

      Her silly mouth kept trembling and the happy tears wouldn’t stay down. “Oh, Dami. I can’t... I don’t...” She had a million questions. She asked the first one that popped into her head. “But what about the Marriage Law? Don’t you have to marry someone soon?”

      He smiled then, at last, that wonderful, unforgettable killer smile of his. “Yes, if I don’t marry within a year of my next birthday, I lose my titles and all I’ve inherited as a prince of Montedoro. But I do have three brothers ahead of me in line for the throne. And all three of them have children. And after me there are five sisters. The Bravo-Calabrettis will have no problem holding the throne whether I remain a prince or not. And my inheritance aside, I’ve done well for myself. I don’t have to marry anyone to continue living in the style to which I’ve always been accustomed.”

      “So that’s what you meant at Thanksgiving when you said you were going to leave it alone, not worry about the Marriage Law anymore.”

      “Exactly.”

      “And so...you don’t want to marry me?”

      He laughed. “Of course I want to marry you.” He grew serious again. “I just think you need more time to deal with that. And I’m willing to give you as long as you need.”

      “Oh, Dami...”

      “Whenever you’re ready, say the word. We’ll get married tomorrow if that’s what you want.”

      “You mean that?”

      “I do. With all of my heart.”

      “Is this...a dream? Am I still asleep?”

      “No dream, Luce. Real. You and me forever. That’s what I want. I found you—and then I lost you through my own blind pigheadedness. If you’ll only take me back, I will always be here for you, always love you. Always, Luce. I swear it.”

      She didn’t want to break the spell of all this wonderfulness with her deepest fear. But she knew that she had to. “I only... What about the children? What if I can’t have your children?”

      His

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