Page 97 of Nothing Compares to the Duke
“Have you?” Bella couldn’t recall if she’d ever met the young woman, but she was far more interested in speaking to Rhys than becoming acquainted with her.
“You’ve rejected a great many suitors.” She lifted the fan strung around her wrist and tapped Rhys on the arm. “She waited a long while for you, Claremont. I do hope you make it worth her while.”
“Would you excuse us, Jane?”
Rhys still hadn’t cast the young lady a glance since Bella entered the room, but she took the hint and made her way out.
When Miss Harrington was gone, Rhys watched her warily. Bella wasn’t sure if she should begin, but she also wasn’t entirely certain of what she wished to say.
Rhys broke the silence. “I know my reputation andwhat you must fear. But whatever you suspect that was, I promise you it wasn’t that. Miss Harrington is the sister of a gent I knew at university.”
Bella hated the emotions clawing inside her. Jealousy and uncertainty. She realized in that moment that she had come to trust him in the past days.
“You’re friends?”
“Not really.” He rushed to assure her, drawing a step closer. “We’re acquainted through her brother and she expressed surprise that a man of my... reputation had become betrothed.”
A chuckle burst from Bella’s lips.
He sighed and scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “Bella, I know your trust isn’t something I can demand. I must earn it and be patient as I do.”
“I have trusted you in the last few days.”
He swallowed hard and she suspected the same memories came to his mind that continually played in hers. Their lovemaking. Their laughter at Margate. Their growing closeness each day since he’d returned to Essex.
“But you have doubts,” he said with a sadness that made her heart ache. “They creep in, even when you don’t wish them to. And in a situation like this, when you find me with a stranger, how can I blame you for suspecting the worst?”
All of what he said was true. Doubts plagued her, even in the moments when she was happy and content in his arms. But the fear that she’d find him with another young lady in a hedge maze as she had so manyyears ago wasn’t what worried her. Her fear was more about her feelings than his trustworthiness.
She was afraid of losing herself again.
He turned away from her and stalked toward a window. Bracing a hand on the frame, he stared out on the fashionable square. “Perhaps we should end this arrangement as quickly as we’re able.”
“Is that what you want?” Bella held her breath.
He swung around to face her. “You know it’s bloody well not. You know what I want.”
He’d suggested they make their engagement real. Part of her wanted that too. “Tell me what you want, Rhys.”
Perhaps she was ready for the question. But rather than ask, he stalked toward her, cupped her face in his palm, and kissed her.
Bella clutched at his shirtfront and pulled him closer. It had only been hours since they’d been this close but somehow, she’d missed it. Missed his heat and unique scent and the way she felt when his body was against hers.
He lifted his head and told her breathlessly, “Showing you seemed the superior option, but I’m willing to tell you too.” He slid a finger under her chin and tipped her head so that his gaze locked on hers. “I want to be yours, Arry, and I want you to be mine. Marry me.”
Those two words. She’d longed to hear them from him for so long.
“Good thing you two are engaged,” the Duchess of Tremayne called from the doorway.
Rhys let out a frustrated sigh.
“I only came to tell you that luncheon will be served in ten minutes. Everyone’s gathering in the dining room.”
“Thank you,” Rhys bit out, and then strode forward to close the door when their hostess departed.
Bella stood frozen. The duchess’s interruption had broken the moment and rather than savor Rhys’s proposal, all Bella could think of was the past.
“You needn’t give me an answer now,” he told her quietly.
