Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2) (20 page)

And I love you.

She swallowed hard. How could she possibly resist an entreaty like that?

She called him. Again, he didn’t pick up. And she wanted to talk to him, not leave a message on his voicemail. So she simply said, “It’s Rachel. Yes. Call me.”

*

Later that evening,
there was a knock on her door.

She frowned. She wasn’t expecting visitors. “Who is it?” she asked.

“Me,” Ryan’s deep voice informed her.

Her knees went weak. It had been almost two weeks since she’d seen him, and she felt ridiculously nervous. Had all those messages with his cakes been just sweet words? Or had he really meant them?

Nerves tightened her stomach into a knot. Even if he did mean them, would she be enough for him? After all, she hadn’t been enough for Nick. What was to say it would go right with Ryan if she gave them a second chance?

She took a deep breath. Enough thinking. Time to hear what he had to say. “Hi,” she said as she opened her front door.

And then she saw that he was carrying another cake box.

“Considering I’ve hardly made a dent in the one you sent this morning, and that was with giving slices to patients as well…”

He smiled. “This one’s different.”

“How to woo a girl in ten cakes?” she asked wryly.

“Something like that.”

“I haven’t had a love letter in years. And I’ve never had a love letter written on an actual cake before.”

“I didn’t know how else to tell you how I felt. And I meant every single word I wrote.”

She could see it in his eyes, too. He meant it. He’d poured his heart into his cakes. He’d created spectacular desserts just for her and put real thought into it – something that Nick had never been able to do.

Ryan wasn’t Nick. And he was a man of his word. A man of integrity who’d put his family first, and who’d do anything for someone he loved. A man who would do his best never to hurt her again.

He paused. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” she admitted.

“I’ve been stubborn and stupid.”

If he could say it, then so could she. Because, now she thought about it, she’d judged him as harshly as if he’d been Nick. That wasn’t fair. “Me, too.”

He gave her a smile that made her heart flip. “Maybe we both need to make it up to each other.”

In her bed?

Her skin heated at the thought.

“But there’s something else I really want to say to you. In your kitchen, I think.”

Her kitchen. Where he’d lifted her up against the wall and made love to her until she saw stars. Her knees went weak at the memory and she only just managed to walk to the kitchen with him.

And there, to her surprise, he dropped down on one knee.

“Ryan?”

“Take the lid off the box,” he said, holding it toward her.

She did so.

Inside, on another of the silver cake boards, was what looked like an individual chocolate tart. Set in the middle of the chocolate was the thinnest, most delicate slice of whole orange she’d ever seen, looking like a circle of sunshine.

“It’s a Tarte au Chocolat,” he said. “With orange sweetcrust pastry and an orange crisp. Which involves a mandolin, a pan of sugar syrup and a bit of patience.”

True to form, the pastry came with a label written on chocolate. Except this time Ryan was the one to read it out. “Rachel Cassidy, I love you from the bottom of my heart. Will you marry me?”

The sincerity in his face was enough to melt her last remaining doubts. So there was only one answer to his question. She smiled. “Yes.”

‡

Six months later

“R
eady to walk
up the aisle with me, Gram?” Ryan asked as they waited outside the church door.

Phyllis smiled, and rested her weight on her walking frame so she could reach up to adjust his buttonhole. “I am now. You look so handsome, just like your dad and your grandpa,” she said. “And I’m so glad you’re marrying…”

For a nasty moment, Ryan thought she’d forgotten the name.

Was this a bad omen?

But then Phyllis smiled again. “Rachel. She’s a lovely girl. So right for you.”

And Ryan smiled right back. “She certainly is.” And, best of all, it seemed that today was one of Gram’s more lucid days. He was going to get married to the love of his life, with his closest family right there. Making memories that would last a lifetime.

“And a spring wedding, too.”

Ryan didn’t have the heart to correct her that it was Fall.

He simply walked down the aisle with her, smiling his head off, and helped her into the pew at the very front.

The church was already almost full. Rachel’s family, their friends, people they’d both grown up with over the years. Most of the staff at Grey’s – who were then going to rush back to finish cooking the wedding feast. Even Carol Bingley was there and smiling, wearing one of her louder patterned dresses and sitting next to her husband, Don. Since Ryan had stood up to her on Rachel’s behalf, her gossiping had been just that little bit less mean.

In a few minutes, his bride would be arriving. Although they’d lived together in Phyllis’s house for the last couple of months, she’d spent last night in her family home, saying she wanted to keep the tradition of not seeing him on their wedding day until she walked down the aisle towards him.

And, right on cue, the organist started to play the bridal march.

Ryan turned to watch Rachel walk towards him on her father’s arm, her sister carrying the train of her dress and her twin nieces walking in step behind them, carrying flower baskets.

All was most definitely right with their world.

He took her hand and mouthed, “I love you,” as the preacher began to intone the first words of the church service.

And his heart overflowed as Rachel mouthed back, “I love you, too.”

The Bachelor Auction Series

Bound to the Bachelor
by Sarah Mayberry

Buy now!

Bachelor at Her Bidding
by Kate Hardy

The Bachelor’s Baby
by Dani Collins

Coming soon – March 2015

What a Bachelor Needs
by Kelly Hunter

Coming soon – March 2015

In Bed with a Bachelor
by Megan Crane

Coming soon – March 2015

One Night with Her Bachelor
by Kat Latham

Coming soon – March 2015

Kate Hardy is the award-winning author of more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Entangled and Tule Publishing.

She lives in Norwich in the east of England with her husband, two teenage children, a springer spaniel called Byron, and too many books to count. She’s a bit of a science and history nerd who loves cinema, the theatre, and baking (which is why you’ll find her in the gym five mornings a week – oh, and to ballroom dancing lessons). She loves doing research, especially if it means something hands-on and exploring. (That’s how the ballroom dancing started…)

*

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