The Billionaire's Secrets (26 page)

“I think you’re right,” he said, and she felt him stir lazily inside her as he kissed her again.
“Except it might make getting married a little difficult.”

She broke off his kiss suddenly and looked into his eyes.

He laughed softly. “You didn’t think I was just asking you to live with me?”

She hadn’t really thought about it. “I don’t know...” she said uncertainly. All she had known was that he had asked her to be with him forever. That h
ad been enough.

“Will you marry me?” he asked. He was not be
ing
playful now. His voice was serious. And in his eyes, Chloe could see
how much he wanted her to say
yes
.

She felt close to tears now.
Could this truly be happening to her? Surely if she pinched herself, she would find it had all been a dr
eam. She would wake up alone on her cousin’s couch in
Boston
, the sound of the rain and the ocean nothing but the sound of the street
-
cleaning machine that had invaded her sleep so often in the past.

“I know we haven’t known each other very long,” he said reassuringly. “If you like, we can have the wedding in the fall.
Although I would prefer May.”

“May,” Chloe whisper
ed
.

“Then that’s a yes?” he persisted.

“Yes,” she managed
before the tears spilled over
.

Kissing
her tears
, he
held her close. “Thank you,” he said.

They lay there for a while until Chloe’s tears subsided. “Sorry,” she said finally. “I thought it was only in
romance novels
that people cried when they’
re happy.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s beautiful. Are you sure
one month
is enough time to get ready for a wedding?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been married before.” She tried to think of the women she worked with who had married. They had spent a
t least a
year planning their day.
Bridal showers, dresses, seating arrangements, invitations, musi
c, flowers
.
By the time the actual day arrived, they had been exhausted with all the planning. Chloe knew that was not the kind of wedding she wanted. She wanted something simple but special. Something she would enjoy and remember.

She explained this as best she could to
Gaela
n
,
and he agreed.
“Just fa
mily and a few close friends.
A
lthough I do have some business associates who would probably be offe
nded if I didn’t invite them. I’d like
Marcus
to
be the best man.”

Chloe responded to the suggestion with silence
,
not because
she objected to
Gaelan’s
choice
but because she could not help
but
think of Bowen. He, she knew, would not be invited. Suddenly it struck her as sad that he should be so estranged from his only brother, a twin at that.

“You don’t mind if Marcus is the best man, do you?” he asked.

“No, of course not.
I was just thinking of Bowen.”

Gaelan’s
eyes grew hard at the thought of his brother. “
He was the best man at my wedding to Colleen, you know. I did it partly out of obligation
,
as we had grown distant by that point - who doesn’t have their twin as their best man? But now h
e’s the last person I want at my wedding.”

“I know,” Chloe said sympathetically. "I just think it’s sad you have to be such enemies. He is your brother.”

Gaelan
sighed, his eyes softening. “I know. I wish it could be different. We were best friends when we were children
, even though we’re so different
.” He raised his head and propped himself up on his elbow. “It was when my
parents
died and Bowen learned I was the
sole
heir to Widow’s Cliff that all the trouble started. He didn’t think the minutes separating our births
were
enough to establish me as heir. He felt Widow’s Cliff should be sold and the proceeds equally divided. I promised to compensate him for his share, which I did, many times over. But he was determined that if he couldn’t own Widow’s Cliff, neither could I. I refused to sell. This house is par
t of my family’s heritage - it’
s more important to me than all the money combined. I can’t begin to know how Bowen thinks, but it seems to me he’s been determined to get revenge ever since.  I don’t want to be enemies with my only brother, but I don’t think it will ever change. His hatred is not about Widow’s Cliff anymore. It’s irrational and obsessive.” There was a faraway look in his eyes
,
and Chloe knew if there
were
any way he could make peace with his brother, he would.

“It’s too bad,” Chloe whispered.

Gaelan
let his head drop back. “It is,” he said, “but I really don’t want to talk about Bowen right now. I want to talk about our wedding and how we’re going to live happily ever after.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Where were we?”

“We were talking about asking Marcus to be the best man. Aren’t you supposed to have a best girl or something?”

Chloe laughed and kissed him quickly.
“Maid of honour, silly."
She thought carefully for a moment. "Does Marcus have a serious girlfriend?" she asked. 

"Kathryn," he said.

"Let's ask her. As Marcus is your closest friend, I have
the
feeling we'll be seeing a lot of them."

“Good idea. Kathryn is great. I'm sure you'll soon be great friends.
But don’t you have a friend or cousin back in Massachusetts who you’d like to ask?”

She thought back to Boston. “All my friends sided with Shawn in the breakup. I was pretty lonely by the time I left. And I don’t have any
close
female relatives
other than a
few
aunts I don’t know
very
well
,
and they
all
had boys
.
So Kathryn would be perfect. And Sophia of course will be the flower girl.”

Gaelan
smiled
at her suggestion
. “
Do you want to hire someone to plan the wedding for us?”
he asked
. “It would make it easier.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, feeling immediately relieved. “But it has to be simple, and I'd like to
have it here at Widow’s Cliff.
I mean, if that’s what you want.” She didn’t want to sound like a pushy bride-to-be. It was his day too.

“Whatever you like, just so long as you’re the bride and I’m the groom.”

“That's the only thing I really need,” she said.

“We could elope,” he suggested playfully.

“My
parents
would never forgive me,” Chloe said. She wondered how
they
were
going to react to her getting married so soon. Chloe tried to put herself in
their position, knowing they
would be shocked Chloe was marrying a man she hardly knew. But she also knew in the end her
parents
would support her decision and be happy for her. And
they were
going to love
Sophia
. Chloe knew
they
would accept her as her own grandchild and probably spoil her terribly.
She
smiled at the thought.

“A penny for your thoughts,”
Gaelan
said, tracing the shape of her smile with the tip of a finger.

“I was just thinking of my
parents
and how much
they’re
going to love
Sophia
.”

“How do you think
they
’d
feel about more grandchildren?”

“Our children?”
Chloe asked. Everything was moving so fast. She was still processing the idea of being a wife, let alone a mother.

“Who else’s,
darling
?”
He took his finger from her lips and kissed her instead. “And after what we just did, who knows
? I
t could happen in about nine months.”