Chapter 12 #2
“Yes, ma’am. A car will be waiting in front of your hotel at seven-thirty.”
She nodded. She finished her drink and looked back at the box. It wasn’t that large, so she ruled out clothing, and it was too big for jewelry.
She pushed the tissue paper aside and saw that it was a book.
She lifted it out of the box and stared down at the cover.
It looked like an illuminated manuscript from medieval times.
On the cover was a knight in shining armor on a horse.
The knight was looking up at a castle, and in the tower was a woman who looked at lot like her.
She had long, black curly hair like Kara’s. And her eyes were gray, just like hers.
She lifted the book up, looking more closely at the knight, and noticed this time that he looked like Gui.
She opened the book and saw that it was the story of Gui and Kara. The book was written just like a fairy tale. Starting with Once Upon A Time…
She flipped the pages to see what happened in the story, reading along. The book was exquisitely made and on each page were hand-painted drawings that depicted another scene of the knight and his princess. Gui must have paid a fortune to have it made so quickly.
But the story ended abruptly when the princess disappeared. The knight was looking for her—and then there was nothing but blank pages. She closed the book and put it back in the box. She wasn’t too sure what Gui had in mind for this evening, but it was clear to her that he had come for her.
And that meant the world. She wished she knew where he was, because she didn’t want to waste another second without him by her side.
She paid her tab and left the restaurant, walking up the avenue to her hotel.
Leaving Madrid felt like a hundred years ago. She had no idea what had happened after she left. She felt ashamed that she hadn’t followed Juan’s funeral in the news. But now she had hope bubbling up inside her. That same hope that she’d felt the first moment she’d realized that she loved Gui.
And there was nothing to stop it. She had never believed she was the kind of woman who would have a great love in her life.
It just didn’t seem like something that would happen to someone as practical as she was.
But Gui had found her, and she had fallen in love with him.
And now she was beginning to believe that he loved her, too.
Gui watched Kara from the shadows as she read the book he’d had made. He knew he’d made the right choice when he saw her face light up the second she saw the book and realized that it was their story.
It had taken him three days to get the book made and to get everything in place to come and woo her back into his arms.
He had been a jerk the day of the accident, and a part of him knew that Kara would cut him a certain amount of slack for some of the things he’d said, but when it got down to it, he’d let her go. He’d pushed her away because he’d been afraid of acknowledging that he had deep emotions for her.
Hell, he loved the woman and he was still afraid to say it. Even to himself. Damn, what would he do if he couldn’t convince her to come back into his life and marry him?
He followed her into the lobby of her hotel, making sure she was safely inside and on the elevator up to her room before he went to the house he’d rented. He gave Vincent orders to make sure that everything was perfectly prepared for the evening.
At six o’clock their friends and family started to arrive. Kate, Emily and Courtney were friendly to him, a marked difference from two days ago when they’d barely spoken to him. Rina still wasn’t sure that she believed he could fix the hurt he’d delivered to her sister.
Christos and Tristan gave him a clap on the back and wished him luck, and Ava and Sheri kissed his cheek approvingly.
He went in the car to pick her up, and when he arrived at her hotel and saw her in the lobby, his breath caught in his chest.
“Kara.”
“Gui.”
“You look gorgeous tonight, bebe.”
“Thank you. You look very nice as well.”
He nodded to her. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. Thank you for the gift you sent this afternoon.”
“You are welcome. Did you like it?”
She smiled up at him and he felt lighter than he had in days. How had he thought he could live without this woman? “I loved it.”
“Well, you are going to have to write the ending. I’m out of ideas.”
“I think you still have a thing or two up your sleeve.”
“Maybe one last effort to show you that I’m sorry for my behavior.”
“I didn’t leave because of the way you acted on that last night.”
“You didn’t?” he asked. They were outside now. Vincent held open the back door of the Rolls-Royce that he’d rented.
She slid into the backseat, and once he was inside and they were on their way, she turned to him. “I left because I realized I couldn’t stay with you and continue to love you when you didn’t even want to acknowledge that you needed me in your life.”
“I was a complete jerk when I said that.”
She shook her head. “I understood you were having a terrible day. And I was a little jealous of the time you’d spent with Elvira.”
“She means nothing to me other than a friend. And I can’t turn my back on friends.”
She nodded. “I didn’t mean to imply that you should. It’s just that she was…Well, she was responsible for everything between us. And…”
“What?”
“She’s beautiful, and a part of me felt like I’d never be able to compete with her. I left partly because of vanity, Gui. I never wanted you to see Elvira and me photographed together and feel like you got stuck with the runner-up.”
He caught her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Kara, never say that again. You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. You. No one else. I can’t imagine loving anyone else as much as I love you.”
She shook her head. “But you don’t believe in romantic love.”
“I was an idiot. I think a part of me was always afraid to admit that I believed in love because I never planned to experience it. But with you, I have no choice. I love you, Kara. And I can’t live without you.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I never say things I don’t mean.”
“Oh, Gui. You’re the man I’ve always secretly dreamed of finding and having for my own. I love you very much.”
He drew her into his arms and kissed her full on the lips. But he was careful not to let their passion get out of control.
They arrived at the house a few minutes later and Vincent opened the door for them.
Gui got out first and then reached down, offering Kara his hand.
She took it and got out. When she was standing by his side he couldn’t resist wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her up the steps of the house.
She hesitated when he opened the door and she heard the voices from the patio area. “Who’s here?”
“Only the people who are most important to us. This is an important night and we need our friends and family around us.”
“For dinner?” she said.
He heard the hope and the concern in her voice. “A bit more than dinner.”
He led her out to the patio, where she was greeted by her friends. As she was welcomed to the house, Gui went to make sure he had everything he needed for his part of this night.
“You seem nervous,” Tristan said, coming up next to him.
“I am. But I know that I need her in my life and I need her to believe how much I love her.”
Tristan clapped him on the back. “Bon chance, mon ami.”
“Gracias.”
When Kara was done greeting everyone, he drew her to a platform that he’d had set up next to the pool. Candles floated on the surface of the pool, illuminating the entire area.
He pulled a microphone from his pocket. “Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming here tonight.”
“What are you doing?” Kara asked in a soft voice.
“Something I really should have done back in the beginning,” he said to her, then brought the microphone back to his mouth and said, “Many of you know that Kara and I are engaged. And those of you who know me probably already guessed that instead of asking her to marry me, I just told her we should get married. But tonight I want to fix that.”
He turned to Kara and got down on one knee. “Kara deMontaine, I love you more than I thought I’d ever love a woman. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”
She nodded and sank to her knees in front of him. She threw her arms around his neck. “Gui, I love you so much. I will marry you.”