But he knew.
Miranda looked suddenly anxious, and tension filled him.
“You mean my will-you-marry-me question?” he asked, on the remote chance he’d gotten it wrong.
For a second he thought she was going to turn and run. But she stayed. Her chin went up. “Is it still open for consideration?”
“I thought you said it would never work.”
She lifted her chin. “It will work. We’ll make it work. I want to marry you.”
“You want to marry me? Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Callum started to enjoy himself. “Because I have a family you like?”
Her teeth snapped shut. “No.”
“Because I have a country house you like…which even has horses?”
He knew the moment she sensed that he was teasing. The caramel-colored eyes he loved so much began to sparkle. “No-but I definitely want to visit again.”
“It must be because I lust after your body?”
She swallowed. “We-ll, that might be part of it.”
“Or because I love you?”
“What?” Her eyes went wide.
“I love you.” He started to laugh. “Don’t you know that by now?”
“I hoped but…I wasn’t sure.”
“Of course I love you-I think the whole world knows it.”
“How long…?”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t the first time I met you.”
“Nor the time I responded to your summons,” she said firmly.
“I just wanted to get that girl who’d called me a murderer off my conscience. But I hadn’t anticipated the effect a grown-up Miranda would have on my libido.” He rose to his feet and pulled her out of the armchair into his arms.
Miranda’s eyebrows lowered as she peered up at him. “You nearly married another woman.”
“Almost,” he said, grinning unrepentantly down at the woman he held in his arms, “but I didn’t. Actually, that was when I fell in love with you, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I just knew there was no way I could marry Petra-anyone-when all I could think about was you. It was only later that I realized it was love.”
“Look.” Miranda pointed. “Is that what I think it is?”
Callum peered up. “It’s mistletoe.”
“I thought so,” she said with supreme satisfaction.
His arms came around her. “You don’t need an excuse to kiss me. Just do it anytime you want.”
She linked her arms around his neck and drew his head down.
“I fully intend to kiss you plenty. Because I love you, too,” she whispered against his mouth, thankful that all her Christmas wishes had been fulfilled.
Callum Ironstone would forever be her Christmas love.
TESSA RADLEY
loves traveling, reading and watching the world around her. As a teen Tessa wanted to be an intrepid foreign correspondent. But after completing a bachelor of arts degree and marrying her sweetheart, she became fascinated by law and ended up studying further and practicing as an attorney in a city practice.
A six-month break traveling through Australia with her family reawoke the yen to write. And life as a writer suits her perfectly: traveling and reading count as research, and as for analyzing the world…well, she can think “what if?” all day long. When she’s not reading, traveling or thinking about writing she’s spending time with her husband, her two sons or her zany and wonderful friends. You can contact Tessa through her Web site, www.tessaradley.com.
