At Last by Jacquie D'Alessandro

happened anyway.
She’d tried to protect her son, but Edward was clearly capable of
taking matters into his own hands. And he’d given her his
blessing.
    Ian cleared his throat. “In case you need a
bit more convincing, I’ll point out that a wedding would put a stop
to all the gossip. And should anyone be foolish enough to say a
word against you or cast aspersions on my unfortunate lack of age,
I assure you your son is well prepared to take them to task. Boy
packs quite a wallop.”
    With hot moisture pushing behind her eyes,
Sophia took Ian’s hands and urged him to his feet. When he stood
before her, she said, “I can’t marry you to stop gossiping tongues,
Ian.”
    He clearly meant to argue
and she pressed her fingers to his lips. “But I can marry you because you’re
wonderful. Because you make me happy. Make me laugh. Because I know
you’ll be good to my son. And because I love you so much I can
barely breathe.”
    “ Is that a
‘yes?’”
    A half laugh, half sob escaped her.
“Yes!”
    In the space of single heartbeat he slipped
the pearl ring on her finger and yanked her into his arms and
kissed her breathless. “I hope you don’t want a bloody long
engagement,” he murmured against her lips.
    “ I don’t,” she assured
him. “Although I’ll have your promise that you’ll not mention our
age difference.”
    “ What age
difference?”
    She framed his face between her hands and
laughed. “God, I love you.”
    He held her tighter and whispered something
in Gaelic in her ear. “What does that mean?” she asked.
    “ At
last , my love. It means at
last.”
     
    The end