The Devil and the Deep - By Amy Andrews Page 0,68

and honesty and she wanted to fall into them for ever. But... ‘So tell me how this works?’

He shrugged. ‘Up until we decide to start a family—’

‘Wait,’ she interrupted, the boat suddenly rolling under her feet a little. ‘We’re starting a family?’

‘Sure...one day. Absolutely.’ He frowned. ‘I thought you wanted kids?’

Stella felt a lump in her throat as she nodded. ‘Absolutely. Not soon. But one day.’

‘Well, until then,’ he continued, gently rubbing his hands up and down her arms, ‘we can divide our time between Cornwall and salvage jobs. You have a portable career, Stel, and you love the business as much as I do so...why not?’

Why not indeed? Stella thought. Just because her parents hadn’t been able to compromise didn’t mean that they couldn’t. And he was right—as long as she had a laptop and access to the Internet, her office could be anywhere.

‘And when kids come along I’ll manage the business from land and get someone in to do the hands-on stuff.’

Stella frowned at him. ‘You would do that?’

He nodded. ‘For you, I’d do it happily. I guess I’d like to go and spend the odd few days here and there at sea, checking on things, and when the kids get older we can take them on the Persephone in the school holidays just like when we were young.’

Stella felt that lump thicken as he painted a picture she’d dreamt about all her life. One that she was supposed to have lived with her own parents, but her father hadn’t ever been able to stay on land long enough.

‘How do I know you’re not just telling me stuff I want to hear?’ she asked. ‘How many times do you think Dad promised Mum things would be different next time he came home?’

Rick pulled her in close to him. ‘I’m not Nathan.’

He held her fiercely for a moment before pulling back to look into her eyes.

‘I loved your father, he was like a father to me, you know that, but I was a little jealous of you having Linda. I wished she could have been my mother too. I never got how Nathan had such a terrific woman like Linda and didn’t appreciate her. I’ve seen two male role models in my life blow it with women who loved them with far-reaching consequences, so, trust me, I won’t ever make that mistake.’

Stella nodded. She believed him when he said he didn’t want to make the same mistakes. Hindsight had put them both on the same page and love would keep them there.

‘I love you,’ she murmured, freeing her heart, letting her love bloom.

Rick smiled a slow steady smile as she said the three words he’d been waiting to hear nearly all his life.

Better late than never.

‘Is that a yes?’ he asked.

Stella laughed. ‘A yes to what?’

‘Embarking on a lifelong pleasure hunt?’ he teased.

She smiled and raised her glass. ‘That’s a hell yes.’

Rick lowered his head. ‘Then let’s get started,’ he whispered.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from Playing the Royal Game by Carol Marinelli

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CHAPTER ONE

SHE was better off without the job, Allegra told herself.

No one should have to put up with that.

Except that walking in the rain along grey London streets, taking the underground to various employment agencies, the anger that her boss could make such a blatant a pass at her and then fire her for not succumbing started to be replaced with something that felt close to fear.

She needed that job.

Needed it.

Her savings had been obliterated by the bottomless pit that was her family’s excess spending. At times it felt as if her lowly publishing wage supported half the Jackson family. Yes, she was the boring reliable one, but they didn’t mind her dependability when their erratic ways found them in trouble. Just last week she had lent her stepmother, Chantelle, close to five thousand pounds in cash for credit card debts that her father didn’t know about. It was laughable to think that she might now have to have her family support her.

It was a miserable day, with no sign that