The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,60

he said quietly. “Now you decide if there’s any chance you can love me again. I hope you can, Naomi. I really do. I could search for the rest of my life and never find a woman who makes me feel the way you do.”

Naomi pressed her hands to her cheeks. She knew her emotions must be showing on her face, and much as she would have liked to avoid that, to suppress what she was feeling, there was no way to do so.

“Imagine it,” Petr urged. “Our wedding was beautiful, but imagine doing it again with all our family and friends present. Imagine having your sister there, and her family, and being able to celebrate with them.”

It did sound wonderful. Naomi pictured herself in a white gown—an ornate wedding gown, not the pretty but simple dress she had worn in Barcelona. She pictured dancing with Petr in a ballroom full of people she loved. She imagined meeting his parents, actually becoming a part of his family—a daughter-in-law instead of a mark.

But could she put everything that had happened behind her?

It wouldn’t be fair—not to Petr, and not to herself—to marry him with bitterness or resentment in her heart. If she wasn’t able to move past what had happened, it would hurt them for the rest of their days. She didn’t want that for either one of them. If she couldn’t leave the past behind, she owed it to them both to decline this proposal.

She closed her eyes.

Leaving the past behind and moving forward without regret had never been her strong suit.

But she thought of the song she had written about Petr; the hopeful note she hadn’t been able to stop herself from including at the end. This was that note. This was the hope she hadn’t been able to let go of. And that hope was stronger, she realized now, than any anger or bitterness she had felt.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

Petr looked at her. “Yes?”

“Yes, I forgive you,” she said. “And yes, I’ll marry you.”

His eyes widened and he inhaled sharply. “You will?”

“You thought I would say no,” she said.

“I hoped you would say yes,” he said. “But it seemed impossible that I could be so lucky, after everything I’ve done. I don’t deserve a second chance, Naomi. I know that.”

“Of course you do.” She thought back to what Harry had said to her when he’d persuaded her to try the open mic night. “Anyone who’s willing to put in the effort deserves a second chance. Just because your first attempt ended, that doesn’t mean you can’t try again.”

“You really are a remarkable woman,” Petr whispered.

She pressed her lips together tightly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened.

He saw them anyway. “Are you sad?” he asked softly.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she admitted. “This is a lot to process. We’re divorced. We’re getting married. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.”

“I just feel grateful,” Petr said. “I know you think I deserve a second chance from you, but I would have understood completely if you’d turned me away without a word. I had prepared myself for that.” He shook his head and let out a nervous laugh. “I feel very lucky right now, Naomi.”

“So do I,” she said. “I spent the last two weeks wondering whether everything that happened between us was real. I was hurt to think that you were using me for my money, but I was even more brokenhearted at the idea that all those moments were fake. I wanted them to be real.”

“They were real,” Petr said. “Everything that happened between us was real. I approached you for the wrong reasons, Naomi, but everything that happened after we met was genuine.” He sighed. “Even when I proposed to you that day on the beach…it was part of a dishonest plan, yes, but the truth was that I wanted to marry you. I let myself believe that it was acceptable to go ahead with the plan at that point because my feelings were real. I told myself that I was doing the right thing by everybody.”

She reached out and took his hand.

“I was lying to myself,” he said. “I just wanted so much to believe that it could work out.”

“It can work out,” she said. “We’ll make it work. And this time, we’ll be honest with one another.”

Petr smiled. “That sounds good to me,” he said.

He stood upright, pulling her with him, drawing her into his arms, and Naomi allowed herself to sink into his familiar but