Page 57 of France Face-Off

His eyes widened. “Love? As in the big L word?”

She nodded. “The big L.”

He gazed into her eyes. “Does that mean you trust me now?”

Her eyes narrowed playfully. “I don’t know about that, but you’re definitely growing on me.”

“Good, because that makes it easier,” he said.

Her brow wrinkled. “Easier?”

He nodded. “Easier for me to do this.” He set her on her feet, ducked out of the shower, leaving a trail of water across the floor and left the bathroom. A moment later, he was back, carrying his shorts. He reached into a pocket and removed a box from inside it.

Alex’s heartbeat slammed into overdrive, and her breath lodged in her throat. She stood in the warm shower, water falling onto her like raindrops, her man, naked as the day he was born, dropping to one knee in front of her. She pressed a hand to her chest, willing her pulse to slow before she passed out.

Dane stared up at her, water splashing over his face. “Alex, I’m pretty sure I first fell in love with you when you flipped Anatoly Petrov over your head at the Energy Summit in Nice. I’d never met a woman who could so effectively put a man in his place.”

Her heart filled to overflowing. “You love me?”

He nodded and opened the box to display a diamond ring. “I love you enough to risk my heart and bare my soul to ask you to do me the honor of becoming my wife. I promise to love you and cherish you for the rest of my life. Please, say yes.”

She laughed, flung her arms around his neck and answered, “Yes!”

He slid the ring onto her finger, gathered her naked body in his arms and sealed their promise to each other with a kiss and so much more. They made love in the rain shower until the water turned cool, then stepped out to dry each other off. This led to more kissing, more touching and a race for the bed where they fell across the mattress, laughing and holding each other until they were making love all over again.

Alex could die happy in that moment, but she was glad she wouldn’t. Not when she had her whole life ahead of her with Dane. Maybe, just maybe, all their lovemaking would result in a child. Her heart swelled with the thought. How wonderful would it be to hold their baby in her arms?

When they finally came up for air, Dane whispered into her ear. “There’s only one more thing we need to do.”

“And what’s that?” she asked, so happy she thought her heart might burst.

Dane winked. “We need to get dressed. It’s T-minus five minutes until our guests arrive. I can’t wait to tell them that you and I are getting married.”

“I can’t wait to get married,” Alex said. “I’m ready to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

“And I’m ready to love you for the rest of my life.”

She smiled. “We just had to go halfway around the world to find each other.”

Dane held her close. “I’d do it all again.”