“Good God, no. I liked that you didn’t know me.”
Confused, Meg continued to stare, waiting for him to explain.
“For the first time in my life, I was able to get to know someone and to let them get to know me without my name and fortune influencing things.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Maybe not to you. No doubt the friendships you’ve formed were based on mutual interests and compatible personalities. Those relationships were built on trust. I constantly question the motives of people who call themselves my friends because most people of my acquaintance don’t give a shit about me. They only care about what I can give them. You met Shelly and Tara—they are two prime examples of the type of women who travel in my circle. Shallow, self-centered, spoiled to excess.
“But you aren’t like that.”
His words chiseled their way through her wall of anger. His pain was palpable and she found herself wanting to reach out to him despite the fact he’d hurt her. “Until I met you, I was exactly like them.”
“I don’t believe that.” She was livid with the man and yet here she stood, defending him, reassuring him. If she had a brain in her head, she would get the hell out and leave the poor little rich boy to his own devices.
But then a memory formed, the image of Rob following her into the bar—offering her a drink and a place to stay. Offering to help her, despite her drowned rat appearance. Despite the fact she’d attacked his driver. No, he wasn’t like Shelly and her family. No matter what he might say, there was a lot of good in him. She considered herself to be a very decent judge of character and Rob was one of the kindest men she had ever met.
Rob stood silently by the door, no doubt thinking he could bar her escape. His head was bowed and she saw how much her anger was costing him. Maybe there wasn’t such a thing as love at first sight. She didn’t deny their original attraction could be called anything other than lust. Yet somewhere in the midst of all that lust, love had come. It was just as he had said. By getting to know him, by learning his personality, and figuring out what made him tick, love had grown. His compassion and generosity spoke to her. His sweet words and compliments warmed her lonely heart. He said she saw the true man behind the name, but he also saw the true Meg, the one she kept buried deep beneath the boring, sensible parts.
She loved him. It was as simple as that.
Taking a step forward, she swallowed her wounded pride and approached him with her heart in her hands.
“I love you,” she whispered, silently wondering if anyone had ever sincerely offered him those words before.
Rob’s head jerked up, sure his ears had deceived him. Meg loved him?
Then he saw the same look in her eyes he’d come to covet the past few days. The look he considered more valuable than all his property, all his possessions, all his money. Love. Her lower lip trembled and he realized how much courage it must have taken for her to confess her feelings to him. Once again, he’d done nothing to deserve the trust she gave him.
Falling to his knees, he grasped her hands in his own. “I love you, Meg, and I’m so sorry. I promise if you’ll give me a second chance, there will never be anything, but total honesty between us.”
Her light laugh sounded like music to his ears as she knelt down to join him on the floor.
“Rob, I understand why you lied. There’s nothing to forgive. You gave me a wonderful gift this weekend. You gave me yourself, the true you. Your name doesn’t matter.”
“What about the money?”
“That doesn’t matter, either. It’s just paper. And that’s not what makes me love you. It’s you, the real you, that owns my heart.”
Laughing at her casual dismissal of his billions, he leaned toward her. “I’d give it all away to charity if it was the only way I could convince you to stay with me.”
“Stay?”
Rob’s grip on her hands tightened. “I don’t want just a weekend with you. I want us to work toward a lifetime. I want you to be my wife and I want you to have my babies. I want to put down roots and have a real home with you. Will you marry me?”
Tears formed on her lovely lashes and Meg nodded.
“Is that a yes, Margaret?” His familiar teasing tone returned.
Meg choked out a tearful laugh. “Yes,” she whispered.
Reaching out, he pulled her close to him, embracing her and his future.
Epilogue