“Astonishing!” Amy swirled happily in the newly refurbished master bedroom of her dream cottage. “It’s exactly as I envisioned it. The blue bouquets on the wallpaper are perfect! Can’t you see vases of blue salvia and pink carnations and lavender in here?”
“My designers might.” Zack chuckled, watching her dance around the house to which they’d just returned from their December journey to London. “But they have much to learn from your American experts if they are to put together the Smithsonian project this spring.”
“With our fabrics,” Amy sighed in delight, patting a crocheted pillow on the four-poster bed. “You are a genius.”
“I know,” he said immodestly. “The magazine article alone should enhance our reputation. The museum tableau will cap it. We will have work to last a long, long time.”
Amy stopped her happy dance in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and lavishly covering his face with kisses. She adored being able to do this any time she liked. She loved even better that this independent man did not push her away and tell her he was too busy for her expressions of affection. She loved that a man as strong as Zack needed her as much as she needed him. She had more blessings than she could count.
He held her closely against the wide chest she’d come to know so intimately these past months. Zack’s open emotions did not lessen his strength of character. She had watched him handle his termagant mother with amusement, set predatory old girlfriends straight, and handle delicate financial negotiations with assurance. She was the only one who could distract the arrogant prince into lingering caresses.
He kissed her nape and eased her toward the enormous bed. “It’s you who makes it happen,” he murmured. “I would not have thought to ask that our wedding gifts be donations to the victims of the flood.”
“No, but you would have given away everything we received.” She spun out of his arms to check the window overlooking the landscaping project down the hill. Zack had hired a company to repair the path so she could walk to the mill when she wished. In the morning, she would choose which shrubs and perennials she wished to plant.
Coming up behind her, Zack pulled his BlackBerry from his pocket. Sliding his arms around Amy’s waist, he placed the machine in her hands. “Add the dates of all your family’s birthdays, if you please, so I may see that they receive appropriate gifts when the time comes. They have contributed as much as my associates to that treasure trove downstairs.”
Amy took the electronic menace he’d taught her to use and began poking in dates. Behind her, Zack chuckled and rocked her back and forth while she worked.
“I measure your contentment by the number of machines you do not blow up,” he said. “I have not replaced a single bulb since we returned.”
She elbowed him and continued with her typing.
“Add a week of holidays for our anniversary,” he murmured, returning to kissing her nape. “We will have a honeymoon every year. You must show me this country. I have never seen the Rockies or the Mississippi or Texas.”
“Business in Europe, play in America. Makes sense, although January isn’t the time I’d be visiting the Rockies unless you ski.” Amy handed him the BlackBerry, and it disappeared so swiftly she scarcely noticed the absence of his hand at her waist. “And you really think I can manage the mill when you go to Europe?”
“I know you can. We have good people in place. They will not even know we are gone on our honeymoon next week.” His hand rose higher, encompassing her breast beneath the scanty designer chemise he’d bought for her in Paris. “You are certain we should not bring the little ones with us? They have been so very good. We could still take a cruise ship instead of a yacht, if you wish it.”
“Josh needs to be in school, and Louisa has plenty of people to love on her while we’re gone. I’m thrilled to include them in our wedding, but I am not taking them on my honeymoon.” Amy turned in his embrace and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his mouth. “It was lovely of you to think of it, though.”
“I think I will soon grow tired of traveling without you,” he murmured against her lips, maneuvering her up against the new wallpaper. “And then there will be babies. I will not wish to miss a minute of their changes.”
Amy laughed as he held her captive with a hand on either side of her head, pressing kisses everywhere his mouth could reach. “You will miss the diaper changes,” she told him, brushing her lips against his bristly cheek.
They had delighted each other when they’d discovered they both wanted more children. Zack loved children as much as he loved new challenges, and she loved him even more for knowing that.
“Possibly,” he agreed, carrying his kisses down her throat to the tops of her breasts. “There will be nannies. You cannot do everything yourself.”
“But this, I will always do myself,” she murmured, burying her fingers in his hair and arching into him, thrilling to the sensation of his mouth on her breast through the silk. “You must agree to be a one-woman man or the deal is off.”
Zack grinned down on her. “Do you think me a stupid man? I have found my treasure, and I mean to keep you.” He sealed his vow with a fervent kiss.
“Promises are forever,” she reminded him softly, removing his shirt.
“Unto eternity,” he agreed with a whisper of hope.
She read the passion and intensity of his gaze and understood that her fears were his, and they would overcome them together. “We’ll celebrate one day at a time,” she assured him, wrapping her legs around his hips and trusting him to take her weight as their lips and tongues came together.
And they celebrated the day joyously, with the winter sunshine pouring through the French doors and across the bedcovers woven on the looms of their mill, to their very own design.