LITMIR.BIZ

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me until you spoke up today. And when I thought about that...that was the crucial moment when I finally realised how much I love you and why.’

      Lilah was gobsmacked. ‘It was?’ she whispered.

      ‘I’ve probably been in love with you since you called me a man whore and slammed that door in my face two years ago...’ Bastien groaned. ‘I’ve certainly been pretty much obsessed with you ever since then.’

      ‘Obsessed while sleeping with other women?’ Lilah derided gently.

      ‘And I couldn’t settle for five minutes with any of them. Don’t blame me for that when you weren’t willing to take a chance on me back then.’

      Moisture stung the backs of her eyes and she blinked rapidly. ‘I wasn’t brave enough to dream that something more lasting might come from what seemed to be a very shallow sexual interest.’

      ‘Ouch...’ Bastien groaned again, looking pained. ‘The minute I had you in my life everything changed, hara mou. You make me feel things. And when you’re not around... I feel dead, as if I have nothing to look forward to or work for.’

      A tear trickled down Lilah’s cheek. ‘Oh, Bastien...’ she mumbled in a wobbly voice. ‘You’re making me cry. I love you so much, but I’m terrified you’ll wake up some day and feel trapped.’

      ‘Every woman who came before you made me feel trapped or bored. You do neither.’

      His dark golden eyes burnished with warmth and appreciation, Bastien leant down and claimed a kiss—a slow, deep kiss that said everything he couldn’t find the words to say. She was the woman he hadn’t even known he was looking for, waiting for. Her image had been locked in his head for two long years, ensuring that no other woman could please or hold him.

      The kiss wakened Lilah’s body, sending little tingles into her tender breasts and down into her pelvis. The sound of a doorbell could not have been less welcome to either of them.

      Bastien lifted his head. ‘I’d better see who that is... Don’t get up.’

      Lilah slid her legs off the mattress as soon as he had left the room and sped back to the main reception room to reclaim her bag. On her return she passed through the hall, and realised that their visitor was Leo.

      When Bastien frowned at her, for being out of bed without permission, Lilah smiled valiantly at both men and muttered, ‘I’m going back to lie down, Bastien.’

      In fact, she took her bag straight into the en-suite bathroom and removed the pregnancy test she had purchased some days earlier. She had to know one way or the other, she reflected ruefully. Had she not been so fearful that their relationship would be damaged by a negative result she believed she would have done the test sooner. But Bastien’s assurances had removed that worry. Furthermore, that fainting fit had roused Lilah’s suspicions, because she had never fainted before.

      The couple of minutes she had to wait for the result of the test seemed to last an unnaturally long time. When she finally straightened from her seat on the side of the bath she froze, because she saw the result straight away. It had an electrifying effect on her and she wrenched open the bathroom door to yell.

      ‘Bastien? Bastien? We’re pregnant!’ she gasped from the bedroom doorway, reddening in dismay when she registered Leo’s presence, because she had totally forgotten that Bastien was not alone.

      Leo was startled enough by her announcement to break into a grin. He gave Bastien a very masculine punch on the arm and wrenched open the front door for himself, departing at speed to leave them alone.

      ‘Pregnant?’ Bastien queried with a frown of uncertainty. ‘But I thought you were convinced that you weren’t.’

      ‘The symptoms were misleading,’ Lilah told him primly. ‘Well? You’re not saying anything... What do you think? How do you feel?’

      ‘I think I’m in shock. I’m a husband, and now I’m going to be a father, and...’ Bastien’s beautifully shaped mouth slanted into a wide, brilliant smile as he moved towards her. ‘I couldn’t be happier.’

      Lilah padded towards him. ‘Even though it’s not what you originally signed up for?’

      ‘I signed you up in an open-ended contract...or didn’t you notice that? I never promised to let you go, and believe me, I won’t now,’ Bastien warned her. ‘You’re my wife, and you’re going to have my baby, and I’ll never let either of you go.’

      ‘We won’t want to be without you,’ Lilah swore, rising on tiptoe to close her arms round him. ‘I love you so much, Bastien.’

      Bastien stared down at her with wondering pleasure. ‘I know—and I don’t know why.’

      ‘Because you’re very loveable,’ she pointed out.

      Bastien was still bewildered, but he decided that it would be insane to question a miracle. He had done everything wrong and she had forgiven him. She cared about him—really cared. When had anyone ever truly cared about him?

      His eyes suspiciously bright, Bastien lifted his wife with reverent hands and laid her back down very gently on the bed. ‘You need to rest,’ he said with conviction.

      ‘No, I need you,’ Lilah countered, her hand snatching at his to keep him close.

      Bastien hung back a step. ‘If I join you on that bed, I’ll—’

      His wife grinned at him, her heart racing, body thrumming. ‘Do you think I don’t know that? I’m throwing down a red carpet and a welcome mat.’

      ‘In that case...’ A wolfish smile tilted his beautiful mouth and he shed his jacket with fluid grace, all power and satisfaction. ‘Your wish is my command.’

      ‘Since when?’ Lilah quipped, unimpressed by that unlikely claim.

      ‘Since you told me that you love me.’

      ‘I do...’ Lilah sighed, breathing in the scent of him like an addict.

      Bastien smoothed her hair back from her cheekbone, his burnished dark golden eyes brilliant. ‘I really do love you, Delilah...’

      Lilah put her sultry mouth to his and slow-burning heat rose inside her, as potent as the happiness she was barely able to contain. Her future was filled with Bastien and the promise of a family, and she was overjoyed by the knowledge.

       EPILOGUE

      Three years later

      LILAH SMOOTHED DOWN her print sundress and studied the sapphire and diamond eternity ring Bastien had given her to celebrate their son’s birth. Nikos was a lively toddler, with a shock of black hair and his mother’s bright blue eyes. He was also a wonderfully affectionate child, and revelled in the attention he received from his father, who was determined to give his son a secure and loving childhood.

      So much had changed during the past three years. Their home base was a London town house, but whenever they needed some downtime from their busy lives they flew out to the chateau in Provence.

      The big house was the perfect base for family get-togethers, and Lilah’s father, stepmother and siblings were regular visitors. Robert Moore was still running Moore Components, which had gone from strength to strength, expanding to facilitate the number of orders it was receiving.

      Within weeks of Anatole’s heart attack Bastien and Lilah had celebrated a second wedding in Provence—a church ceremony, attended by all their family, and followed by a lively party at the chateau.

      For a while afterwards Lilah had worked with Bastien as one of his PAs, and that had enabled the couple to spend more time together—particularly when he was travelling a lot. Since their son’s birth, however, Bastien had consolidated the various elements of his business empire to

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