Page 54 of The Seductive Love of a Lady
Drew laughed too. ‘I suppose so…’ He smiled wryly.
‘Then my father would have told you to go to hell.’
‘Careful, if you get a taste for foul language I will divorce you. You may like your men spirited. I like my women staid.’ His gaze fell to the smile hovering on her lips as he placed the stem of the clover into her bodice and left the flower there. ‘I do love you.’
When his gaze met hers, her emotions shone vividly for him to read,I love you more than anything.How long had he not seen that and hurt her regardless?
His hand cupped her breast over her bodice and he kissed her.
Her tongue played with his as her fingers combed into his hair.
He longed to lift her dress and take her here in the long grass. But this was about building better foundations for them – they had never had a problem with their physical bond.
He ended the kiss, his mouth hovering just over hers. ‘I will be different now.’
27
‘I know you returned my dowry.’
His hazel eyes lost their rich amber depth and became shallow mirrors. He rolled on to his back, and raised one knee, his foot flat on the crushed grass as one arm slotted behind his head.
‘As you said, it was your money. But I could not return the money I used to pay debts and support Caro.’
Mary rolled to her side, balanced her head on her palm and looked down at him.
‘I do not regret rescuing Caro.’ His eyes said,damn the consequences.
‘I did not ask you to regret it; I would guess neither John nor Papa would either. They will think it heroic of you.’ Her palm settled on his chest. Even through the fabric of his waistcoat, she could feel his heart beating.
‘They will think me a sop. A man has a legal right to beat his wife if he chooses to, and they gave me the money to protect your security not Caro’s.’
‘I think you returning my dowry unbalanced John’s opinion of you. He thought you without conscience, and then youdid something that proved him wrong. He also thought you uncaring, but protecting your sister proves that wrong, too. He may have to like you now.’
‘Except that I did once proposition his wife…’ He smiled, wry amusement in his eyes.
Amusement lifted Mary’s lips. ‘Ah, yes, I forgot. You told me why, perhaps you could tell him. But that would mean admitting you care for his opinion.’
A smile parted his lips. ‘Are you mocking me?’
‘Perhaps. Why did you choose me over anyone else? If you were marrying for money in the beginning.’
His eyebrows lifted at the question and his smile fell. ‘I told you. The first time I danced with you I knew. You were the most beautiful creature. But I remember you do not like to be appreciated for your looks. Yet that is the truth and you wanted honesty. It was more than that though. You danced with me, smiled and talked, as though I were any other man. You were charming. Perhaps I fell in love with you then. Certainly, I chose you then. The impulse was immediate and instinctive.’
‘Except that during the waltz after that you asked Kate to share a bed with you. No more lies. I asked because I want to know the truth. Even if the truth is ugly, and merely because you liked my looks and money. I know it is not what you think now.’
His arm lifted from behind his head and his hand held hers against his heart. ‘It is the truth. I asked your sister-in-law out of spite. I told you so. I am not proud of it. It is another of my faults. If people expect me to behave badly, I have an incontrollable itch to infuriate them. I did not know I had fallen in love moments before because I have never known love. All I knew was that I was mesmerised by you. When I saw you after that, a strange emptiness always gripped my stomach. I procrastinated, for a whole season. I needed money, you had it, and yet you seemedbeyond any hope. But you kept glancing at me and you gave me hope.
‘My bumping into you at that garden party was the only way I could think to speak to you, and when we met in that dark glasshouse my stomach was queasy with fear that you would reject me.’ His eyes shone light brown, gilded with gold by the sunlight. ‘But I should tell you the whole truth, I suppose…’
A frown creased Mary’s brow.
‘Since I danced with you the first night I met you, I have not bedded another woman. I may have said that to the Duchess, but since that night I have not wanted anyone but you. I wanted a monogamous marriage from the beginning, a love match. I wanted a faithful wife and to be a faithful husband.’
She slid her hand free and touched his cheek.
Andrew may have learned to love her, but he did not love himself. Probably because his parents had been so horrible.
He called himself an ass, she would call him wounded – but not aloud. ‘And I chose to go out with your friend…’ she said.
