The rest of the wedding party had already left Monaco. Vincent and Candace were on their honeymoon. Franco had taken Stacy to his French family estate. Even Madeline’s prince had come through. He’d surprised them all with a proposal during the wedding reception yesterday and then he’d whisked Madeline off in the royal jet to his country in the South Pacific to meet his family.
Amelia was happy for her friends but a little saddened, too, that she hadn’t found what they had.
A limo longer than any she’d ridden in during her stay in Monaco waited at the end of the jetty. This one would easily carry ten or more people. The driver climbed out and opened the rear door for her.
“Louis?” Toby’s Louis? But Toby had flown out yesterday. Vincent had probably arranged for Toby’s driver. He’d also arranged for Amelia’s.
Coincidence. Get in the car, Amelia. It’s time to go home.
“Good afternoon, Mademoiselle Lambert. I trust you enjoyed your stay in Monaco?”
“It is the most romantic country in the world,” she dodged. There was no way to explain the range of emotions and personal discoveries she’d made here in the past month.
Louis smiled. “That it is.”
“Could I have a minute?”
He nodded and then joined the steward to help him load her luggage in the trunk.
Amelia turned a full circle for one last look at the harbor, the Mediterranean and the jagged landscape. She’d teased Candace about coming back to visit every year, but Amelia wasn’t sure she could handle the bittersweet memories. She’d have to if she wanted to stay in touch with her friends—and she did. Candace had said she and Amelia were almost family.
Louis returned to her side. “Mademoiselle?”
“I’m ready.” She climbed inside the dim, cavernous interior and the door closed behind her. It took a second for her eyes to adjust. The first thing she saw was a bouquet of roses on the nearest seat. A dozen red roses.
A shuffle of sound drew her attention. She turned her head and saw Toby in the back. Her stomach tumbled to her toes. “You’re supposed to be in Daytona.”
“Next week will be soon enough to get back on the track.” He wore a blue silk shirt the exact shade of his eyes, navy pants and sunglasses. Her own panicked face reflected back at her in the lenses. “Sit down, sugar.”
She wasn’t ready for a tête-à-tête with Toby, but the car started rolling before she could reach the door handle, and diving out…not a good plan. She scrambled for a seat, the farthest one from him, and buckled up.
Toby stayed where he was a good six feet away with his fingers laced in his lap. The pose looked casual until she noticed how tightly his fingers were knotted and searched his face.
“What’s going on?”
“You were right,” he said. “I use the bravado to keep people at a distance. That’s because the last woman who saw the real Tobias Haynes didn’t like him enough to stay. Plain ol’ Toby, a serious kid who loved anything with an engine, wasn’t good enough.”
A kid? “Are you talking about your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Toby, she fled an abusive relationship. She did the right thing in getting out.”
He hesitated and then said, “She should have taken me with her.”
She couldn’t imagine the heartache he must have felt. “Yes, she should have.”
“The point is, I’m not always charming, witty or fun.”
Where was he going with this? “This is news?”
He stiffened. “Hey—”
“Toby, the point is,” she repeated his words, “when you cast off the playboy-jerk armor and quit trying to get into my pants you’re a very likable guy.”
“Yeah?” He sounded surprisingly unsure.
“Yes.”
“You like it when I get in your pants.”
She sighed. “Toby—”
“My father called me To-buy-ass instead of Tobias.” Toby glanced out the window. His jaw looked rigid enough to snap. “He said I was a worthless piece of crap and once the Haynes charm and looks faded I’d have to buy my women like he did.”
Amelia’s heart squeezed at the pain he couldn’t quite conceal beneath the clipped words, and anger stirred toward the man who’d hurt him. “I don’t think I’d like your father much.”
“Not many people did.” He faced her again. “He kicked me out when I turned eighteen. I hitched a ride to Concord and begged until somebody let me push a broom in a race shop. I had a knack for engines, and that got a little attention. I worked my way up from there. It took years before I could convince somebody to let me get behind the wheel.”
She’d read some of this online, but not the part about his father. Details of Toby’s life before NASCAR had been impossible to find. She knew because she’d searched.
“Racing…what I’ve accomplished…it all proves my dad wrong.”
“You should be proud. You worked hard and earned your success.”
His jaw shifted. He sucked one deep breath and then another. “I’d give it up if you asked me to.”
Shock rippled through her. “What? Why would you do that? Why would I do that?”
She hadn’t even noticed the limo stopping, but Louis opened the door, so it must have. Moments ago Amelia would have given anything to get out of this car. Now she wanted to stay and find out exactly what Toby was trying to say. “Toby—”
“Immigration is waiting.” He came forward, climbed from the car and then offered her his hand.
“You can’t drop a bomb like that and then walk away.” And then she stopped and studied the unfamiliar surroundings. “This is not the Nice airport.”
“No. It’s a private strip. We’re flying back on the HRI jet.”
“But I have a ticket.”
“It’s been canceled.” He hustled her into the small building and through the formalities.
Afterward, she looked up from tucking her passport back into her purse and found him holding a blue velvet box.
A jewelry box.
A ring box.
Her heart skidded to a halt and then pounded like a woodpecker on speed in her chest.
He’d removed his sunglasses, and for the first time today she could see his eyes. But she couldn’t read them.
“For you. No matter what happens, this is yours to keep.”
Don’t get your hopes up. He’s commitment phobic.
Her hands shook so badly she could barely hold the box. She took a bracing breath and lifted the lid and saw a ring.
A key ring.
Disappointment weighted her shoulders.
What did you expect?
“What is this?”
“Keys to that little blue car you fell in love with. It should be waiting in your driveway when you get home.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Toby, you shouldn’t have. It’s too much.”
“You take care of everybody else. Somebody needs to spoil you.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Thanks should do it. And maybe a kiss. Or two.”
Did he expect her to resume the affair at home? “What do you want from me?”
He hooked his hand around her elbow and guided her toward the doors leading to the runway. “I’ve been giving some thought to that crazy idea of yours.”
“What crazy idea?”
“The one about the dog, the kids and the white picket fence.”
“There’s nothing crazy about—” The glass doors slid open and the words died on her lips. Two parallel rows of white picket fencing created a four-foot-wide path across the asphalt. About thirty feet from the terminal the fencing took a right-angle turn behind a big metal storage box.
“Maybe it’s not such a dumb idea after all,” Toby said beside her.
Her feet moved numbly forward. This seemed a little Wizard of Oz-ish, like traveling the yellow brick road.
Toby pulled her to a stop before she could look around the corner. “Let me give ’em to you.”
A mixture of emotions tumbled through her brain. Confusion. Hope. Caution. “What are you saying?”
His eyes warmed and her breath caught. She blinked, convinced that she was mistaken in what she thought she saw.
Toby cupped her cheek. “I’m saying that standing in that church I realized I wanted to hear you saying those words, making those promises to me. And I wanted to make them to you. I want forever with you, Amelia. The kids, the dog, the porch swing. The whole deal.”
A tremor started in the pit of her stomach and worked its way outward. Her lips quivered. Her throat closed up and her eyes burned. She closed her gaping mouth, opened it again, but no sound emerged.
Toby thumbed a tear from her cheek, one she hadn’t even noticed escaping. His lips turned up in a clearly forced smile. “But not the cat. The cat’s a deal breaker.”
A laugh bubbled from her chest. She could tell the joke was a nervous one and part of the carefree facade he wore like protective armor. “Oh, Toby…”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “HRI is strong enough to survive whether or not I ever climb back in the car. I have to finish this season because I’m contracted to my sponsors, but after that I’ll give up driving if you want me to. What matters is having you by my side.”
He cupped her shoulders and turned her around. The picket fence path led to the stairs of a small white jet. Marry me, Amelia had been written in huge red script down the side of the plane. She could only gape. Happiness swelled within her. She tried to contain it. He hadn’t said the most important words yet, and she refused to settle for less.
And yet he’d offered to give up driving for her. That had to mean something, didn’t it?
“It’ll take about a mile of this white stuff to circle my property. Lucky for you, I can afford it.”
She faced him. He held another ring box, this one open to display a gorgeous heart-shaped diamond on a wide gold band. Her lungs failed. She pressed her fingers over her mouth.
“You’re into the hearts and flowers and stuff, so…” He shrugged. “If you don’t like it, we can get something else.”
He tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. The love she saw in his eyes, on his face, made her dizzy with joy, and no matter how many times she blinked, it didn’t go away. She wheezed in a breath.
“I always swore I’d never let a woman get close enough to hurt me. I never guessed that letting the right one—you—go would hurt more. I know I acted like an ass. But if it’s not too late, please give me a chance to earn your love again.
“I didn’t tell the guys about our night together because I didn’t want to share. It was special. At the time I didn’t realize how special. And then you dumped me with that cold note and I knew I had to get you back. You started out as the one who got away. A challenge I had to win. But then you stole my heart and became the one I can’t forget.”
He dropped to one knee. “I love you, Amelia. Marry me. Please.”
“You love driving.”