GREEK HUSBAND

Chapter 63

'I did feel very comfortable with him.' Involuntarily, Bella's eyes flooded with tears and she rested her head down on Edward's shoulder with an apologetic sniff as she fought to regain control. Edward was so protective of her and after a lifetime of always having to look out for herself, the depth of his caring and kindness meant a great deal to her. Yet once his managing ways had irritated the hell out of her, she acknowledged, marvelling at how much her outlook and his had changed since their first encounter. 'In the same way, I've always felt comfortable with you.'

Edward lowered her back down to sit at the foot of the bed. 'Now for something very important that I skipped the first time around...' he husked, dropping down Bellafully on one knee and lifting her hand. 'Bella Donovan...will you marry me?'

'Aren't we already married?' Bella breathed, taken aback and utterly mystified as he lifted her hand.

'Are we? Father Benedetto in the chapel in the village quite understands that you don't feel quite married after a civil ceremony and he has agreed to do the honours for us again,' Edward explained, deftly threading a ring onto her wedding finger. 'All we need to do is book our day.'

Her face the very picture of wonderment, Bella extended her hand, splaying her fingers the better to admire the breathtaking diamond cluster he had given her, and then she glanced down at the startling picture of Edward at her feet in a romantic mode. 'I love the ring. Everything's happening backwards for us. We're getting engaged after we got married!'

'Better late than never,' Edward growled, springing back upright. 'You still haven't said yes—'

'Yes...yes...yes!' Bella carolled without hesitation, her sheer happiness bubbling over. 'Yes to marrying you, yes to another wedding, yes to loving you for the rest of my life!'

Edward tugged her gently up the bed and flattened her to the pillows. 'Do you think you can do that, agapi mou? I'm very far from being perfect.'

'Now that you know that, the sky's the limit in the improvement stakes,' Bella teased, wriggling as he skimmed her hair out of his path and claimed a scorching kiss that she felt all the way down to her curling toes. 'But you definitely don't need to improve at this...'

And Edward laughed and thought how shallow and empty his life had been before Bella and how much richer and more interesting it had become with her. As for Bella, she was much too busy getting Edward out of his shirt and admiring his muscular arms to think about anything.

Leap

Four years later, Bella stood on the deck of Hellenic Lady's successor while her daughter Rosie played on deck with the family dog, a fluffy pug called Jonas. Bella was relaxed as she always was on such trips. She worked long hours as a doctor in the paediatrics department of a busy London hospital and cherished every day of her time off.

'Daddy...Daddy!' Bella spun round to watch her daughter throw herself boisterously at her father as he emerged from the main saloon.

Edward looked amazing in swim shorts, his lean, powerful body well-honed by exercise, black hair blowing in the breeze. They had enjoyed an incredibly busy four years together. Raising Rosie without a team of nannies would have been impossible with the hours Bella had been working while she trained in various hospitals, but since then, having attained a more settled working day, she had had the time to become a more hands-on mum. Rosie had Bella's red hair, Edward's rich dark eyes and skin that didn't burn in the sun the way her mother did. She was a lively, affectionate child, happily attending nursery school.

Edward lowered his daughter to the deck and fought off the energetic advances of the dog. 'We'll be docking soon,' he reminded her with a lazy grin, stunning eyes straying appreciatively over the lush curves Bella had showcased in a blue bikini.

The heat of the Turkish sun was already beating down on Bella's bare shoulders and she lifted a towel to drape it around her and cover her skin, which never took a tan. They were returning to Marmaris to celebrate her twenty-ninth birthday at the Fever nightclub where they had first met. Anatole and her father's entire family were on board with them. She got on very well with her two adult half-brothers, who were students, and her little half-sister, who was still at school. From her stepmother, she had received the warm family acceptance that she had tried and failed to win from her uncle's family.