One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [83]
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “I’d rather continue to love you,” he whispered before his head came down and his mouth covered hers.
Because Sterling’s kiss had sent immediate shock waves coursing throughout Colby’s body, it was an entire minute before the meaning of his words sank into her mind. She suddenly broke off their kiss. “What did you say?”
Sterling smiled at the look of disbelief on her face. “I said I love you. And don’t worry about me suing you because there’s no longer a contract. I contacted Edward before my plane landed today and ordered him to destroy it, as well as the prenuptial agreement. So now, Colby, you’re stuck with me. Forever.” Sterling pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, Sterling,” she said as tears began clouding her eyes. She felt as though she had just awakened from a dream—a wonderful, glorious dream. The knowledge that he loved her sent her pulse in overdrive.
“Colby?”
She lifted her head and looked up at him. The moon’s light silhouetted his features and she could see the intense look that lined his face. “Yes?”
“How do you feel about me?”
She was surprised he even had to ask. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes when she said, “You have moved up a notch above Denzel. And since I’ve gotten to know you better, I even like you much better as a man.”
“Colby!”
“What?”
He lifted her face to meet his eyes. The look in his expression was serious. “I have to know how you feel about me.”
She looked at him, reading the anxiety in his eyes. Then it suddenly occurred to her that this was all new to him, these emotions he was experiencing. And it was important that he knew just how she felt. As far as he was concerned, no woman had ever really loved him before.
She lifted her hand to rub gently across his beard. “I love you, Sterling, and I have loved you for some time. I fell in love with you in California. I realized how I felt about you the day you took me to your home in Malibu. I love you with all my heart and soul.”
He stared down at her for a long moment before saying, “Thank you for loving me.”
Colby gazed into his eyes with all her love clearly shining in hers. Her voice was soft as a whisper when she said, “It is my pleasure.”
The reddish-brown highlights of dawn seeped across the mountains and into Sterling’s bedroom. His eyes were open. He had awakened during the predawn hours.
Colby sighed in her sleep and snuggled closer to his body. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Her body felt heavenly curled up against his. And her perfume, that arousing feminine scent he’d come to accept as part of her, surrounded him.
He gazed down and regarded her thoughtfully. Their marriage wouldn’t be normal by any means. Their home life would be chaotic and their private life would be nonexistent. And they would have to work harder than most married couples at building and maintaining a solid relationship. But as he stared down at her, he knew she was worth everything.
Colby shifted in his arms, slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. She smiled.
Sterling felt as if his entire world opened up with that one smile, and he silently pledged to love her for the rest of his life. He pulled her closer into his arms and whispered the words, “I love you,” before leaning down and touching her lips in a soft, gentle kiss.
Chapter 21
Colby stood on the porch and watched Sterling load his luggage into the trunk of the car. He was getting ready to leave for Spain.
She sighed heavily and leaned her head back to rest against the huge wooden post. He would be gone for a month and she would miss him terribly.
She couldn’t help but think about the last five days they had spent together. Their time together had been private, precious and intimate. They had walked hand-in-hand over every inch of his land, sharing stolen kisses during the day among the thickets of plants and trees, and then again at night underneath the dark, moon-kissed sky.
They had engaged in long serious conversations with topics ranging from the