For the Night: Complete Box Set (81 page)

‘What’s the matter? You seem tense. I told you
that you should have got more sleep on the plane.’

‘I’ll be fine, I can catch up,’ I reassured her,
not sure how much sleep I’d be getting with my curvaceous temptress back by my
side. We pulled up outside a set of white iron gates and Matt leaned out and
punched in a code, making them swing open.

‘Is this the hotel we’re staying in?’

‘Not exactly,’ I replied, as we drove past the two
small guest houses situated in the grounds, and the gate closed behind us. We
continued up the drive and I kept focussed on her face as we pulled up in front
of a 1920’s white weather boarded, two storey building, with a veranda complete
with a swinging seat.

‘It’s a little bed and breakfast,’ she exclaimed.
‘It’s gorgeous.’

‘You think?’ I felt the smile creep across my
face. Matt jumped out and opened the door to let her out. I quickly followed,
taking her hand as I looked at him for reassurance everything was set up. He
nodded and went to get my bag out of the boot. ‘Come on, let’s go and find some
shade, then have a drink and something to eat.’

‘I can’t believe I’m hungry again. It smells salty
here, like we’re by the sea,’ she observed, as she sniffed the air. ‘Thank God
you had this bikini and summer dress for me on the plane, it’s sweltering.’

‘I’m told you get used to it, but I haven’t yet,’
I replied, as I led her around the house. She gasped and looked at up me as the
beach came into view.

‘O my God, what an incredible view. It’s just like
we’re in the Caribbean, not that I’ve ever been but, wow.’

‘It’s a private section of beach, just for the
house.’

‘O, Lucas, can we stay here every time we come
over to California?’

‘We can,’ I smiled, then grabbed her face and
kissed her. ‘Come on, lunch is set up down on the beach.’ She kicked off her
flip flops as we reached the sand, dropping my hand as she ran down to the
ocean, her long brown hair billowing behind her. I took a deep breath and
kicked off my flip flops as well and chased after her, picking her up and
spinning her around as she laughed.

‘I feel like I’m on holiday.’

‘You are, sadly I have to work, but Ellie’s over
here at the moment, she’s going to take you shopping and show you the sights
and I’ve planned a short trip to Vegas for you both as well, just two nights as
I couldn’t bear to be apart from you any longer.’

‘Lucas, you’re so sweet. What did I do to deserve
that?’

‘Just by being you,’ I smiled as I carried her
over to the gazebo shading two sun loungers, with a table set up with our lunch
of salad and poached salmon under some silver domes. I sat her down as I popped
the Champagne and poured in some Cassis for her, taking mine plain. She
chattered away excitedly as we ate, and I suggested we go and freshen up before
coming back down to spend some time lounging in the sun, maybe swimming too.
Her eyes were on stalks as she saw the swimming pool running along the back
deck and I led her up the stairs into the open plan living kitchen and dining
room.

‘Where is everyone?’ she asked, as she looked
around at the white spacious interior, with that coastal beach vibe going on.

‘It’s just us,’ I replied, as I hurried her up the
stairs. I opened the door to the main bedroom, the balcony doors were thrown
wide open with the scent of sea filling the room and the roar of the waves
crashing on the beach could be heard. The white four poster bed had soft white
mosquito drapes around it, which were blowing in the gentle breeze.

‘Look, they’ve even put a heart made of rose
petals on the bed and a vase of calla lilies.’ She sighed, as she looked
around, her eyes glittering with happy tears. ‘Have you ever seen a room more
beautiful?’

‘I’ve never seen
anything
more beautiful,’
I replied as I stared at her, at her excited face and all my tension melted away.
I pulled the nets back and sat her on the edge of the bed, running a hand
through my hair as she looked up at me with those stunning blue eyes that
always saw straight through me. I felt myself tearing up and quickly wiped my
eyes.

‘Lucas, what is it? What’s wrong?’ she asked, in
that soft nurturing voice.

‘You, you’re what’s wrong, Summer Beresford. I’m
not the same man anymore, not since you sent me that booking form so long ago.
My whole damn world revolves around you and it falls of its axis when we’re
apart. Being away from you is catastrophic to my very existence. I can’t
breathe when you’re not with me, I feel like I’m slowly dying and you’re the
only one who can revive me. Life without you is meaningless, you own my heart,
body and soul, every fibre of my very being is in love with you, you flow
through my veins, Summer. Just seeing you brings me so much contentment, I feel
like I’ve come home whenever our eyes met, or our fingers touch, suddenly
everything in the world’s right again. I’m not too proud to admit that I need
you to function, angel.’ I stalled for breath, overcome with emotion, the love
I had for her threatening to drown me, as I dropped to one knee in front of
her.

Summer

‘Lucas,’ I gasped, stunned as he sank gracefully
to one knee in front of me and my heart skipped a few beats before starting
again at a much more rapid pace. I held my breath as he gazed up at me, such
depth of emotion showing in his beautiful grey eyes, eyes that seemed to see
into my very soul, that read me like a worn ratty cornered, well-loved classic.
Everything he did had me, my comfort and well-being in mind.

‘It’s no secret that I’m madly in love with you,
Summer Beresford. But I’m tired, I’m tired of calling you Miss Beresford, I
need to call you Summer Steel, I
need
to make you mine completely, to
know that I can love you for the rest of your life, the way that you deserve to
be loved. I want your face to be the last thing I see every night before I
close my eyes and the first thing I see when I open them, because the sun rises
and sets with you, being here without you I’ve been in perpetual darkness,
angel, and I can’t bear it any longer. I don’t feel I deserve a woman as
incredible as you, but I love you and I want to start a family with you, sooner
than later. I want a house filled with mini Lucas and Summers, who I’ll love as
much as I love you, you’ll never want for affection if you agree to be mine.
Summer, will you … will you …’ he stalled as he took a shaky emotional breath,
reflecting exactly how I was feeling.

‘Yes,’ I nodded vehemently, as I wiped some tears
that had escaped and were cascading down my cheeks. He laughed and wiped his
eyes on his white linen shirt sleeve.

‘You don’t know what I was going to ask, I could
have been about to suggest you go and clean up the plates after lunch.’

‘Lucas Logan Steel, if you weren’t proposing then
I’m
tired. I’m tired of being Summer Beresford, girlfriend of Lucas Steel, I want
to be Summer Steel, I want the world to know how proud I am to be yours. I want
to get fat as I carry your child and watch you love him or her even more than
you do me, because I have no doubt that as a husband and father you’ll excel,
just as you do with everything you set your mind to. You’re the love of my
life, my best friend and my soul mate. Life seems so dull, cloudy and blurred
when you’re not around and my heart stops beating. Then you return and bring
the sunshine, joy, clarity and focus back to my life, making my heart start
beating again. So if you’re
not
proposing, then Lucas Steel I won’t wait
any longer, will you marry me?’ My voice didn’t even waver, I had no
reservations at all.

‘Tell me
you
did not just steal my
thunder?’ he laughed.

‘Well you looked like you might be having second
thoughts after all that beautiful, romantic and emotional talk. What with the
girlish scream in James’s car, I thought you might feel that you’d had enough
soft and tender in your life for one day,’ I teased, as he held my hands
tightly in his.

‘Soft and tender is the Lucas Steel reserved just
for you, angel. Whenever you want him you call, he’ll come running. So even
though you stole my line, in typical actress fashion, my answer is yes, I’ll
marry you, Summer Beresford,’ he beamed. It felt as if a million butterflies
had been released in my stomach and were rising, lifting me with them, my body
felt weightless as I floated on a cloud of love.

‘And I’d be
honoured
to marry you, Lucas,’
I nodded with a strangled sob, as I slid off the bed onto my knees in front of
him and threw my arms around his neck. Our lips melded in an explosion of pure
happiness, as we poured all of our emotions and love for each other into it. He
finally pulled away, resting his forehead on mine.

‘I need to ask it, I’m the man, I can’t possibly
allow us to get married with you having asked me.
I
need to ask and have
you answer me, Summer. So, I’m officially asking will you marry me, and don’t
you dare make me run out of oxygen as I wait for your answer this time.’

‘Breathe my darling man, because of course my
answer’s yes, and don’t ever let me hear you say that you don’t deserve me
again. You have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, Lucas, any woman
would be lucky to have the chance to love you and have you love her in return.’

‘I’m not going to wait fourteen months for this
milestone, angel. We’re getting married sooner than later.’

‘I have no problem with that,’ I smiled as I gave
him another gentle kiss. He helped me up and sat me back on the bed, reaching
into his pocket. I felt him sliding a ring onto my left hand and held my
breath.
O my God
, I’d just got engaged to the most amazing, kind,
loving, generous and
seriously
sexy, hot man on the planet. He flicked
his head down to my hand and I slowly looked down. I had the most stunning
large square diamond ring, flanked by two of the bluest sapphires I’d ever
seen, set on a slim platinum band. I sat staring at it in awe as more tears
flowed down my face. I’d never owned anything so beautiful.

‘Did I do ok?’ he asked, his quiet voice had an
edge of nerves.

‘You did more than ok,’ I nodded, as I leapt up
into his arms, wrapping myself tightly around him. He laughed and spun us
around as I kissed his neck repeatedly.

‘So, Mrs. Steel to be, I’m really hoping that I’m
on a roll. What do you think of our new house?’

‘Our what?’ I cried, as I pulled my head back to
look at him with my mouth ajar.

‘I put down the deposit a week ago, we close in
about twenty days. I had to do some serious negotiating with the agents to ask
for the keys for us to spend the week here now, but when I dropped the name
Summer Beresford they bent over backwards to make it happen.’

‘How did you afford it? I mean it’s a beautiful
house on the beach in a lovely area, it must have cost you a fortune.’

‘I used some of my savings for the deposit and
I’ve taken a mortgage, which I’ll hopefully clear with the proceeds from
selling my apartment.’

‘Lucas, if this is our house I’m paying for half
of it.’

‘No, because you purchased your apartment, which
I’ll be living in when we’re in England. So it’s only fair I pay for this one.
You’ll need to apply for a visa, I’m hoping you’ll do most of your films here
too, so this will be our main home. I needed something to occupy me without you
these last few weeks and came looking along the coast and fell in love with
this. It’s not the biggest or the most modern, but I thought it was perfect. We
have the two guest houses for the security team and maybe a housekeeper or
nanny for when we have children and room for guests. The main house has four
bedrooms in total, you even have your own very large dressing room. We can
change anything you want, new bathrooms, kitchen, flooring, whatever you want,
angel, I’ll do it. Anything to keep that amazing smile on your face.’

‘I think you’re just too good to be true,’ I
sighed, as I clasped his face and kissed him, grinning and biting my lip as I
saw my ring on my finger. I loved it, especially as he’d chosen the blue
sapphires to go with my eyes. ‘Can we go and explore? Then I
have
to
ring Mum and Dad, Mandy, Jayne, Ellie, Brooke and Molly to tell them how happy
you just made me.
Then,
if you’re not too tired, I’d love to have you
make love to me in our new bedroom.’

‘I told you angel, whatever you want, it’s yours.’

‘I think other than a baby Lucas, I have
everything a woman could ever need.’

‘A baby Logan, I like the idea of calling him
that,’ he grinned, his face ecstatic with happiness. ‘Let’s do the tour, make
our calls and then we can get on with the making of him.’

‘One of the best plans you’ve ever come up with,’
I laughed.

‘We must have time for a quickie, they’ve barely
started and Best Actress award is way, way down the order list,’ Lucas murmured
in my ear. If I hadn’t already seen the large erection straining against his
black trousers, the horniness in his tone would have given away his state of
mind, not to mention the look on his face.