Page 38 of The Miracle of Love
“Your aunt really hates an empty house. I think this is why she invited me to stay on. She adores having family around her and will miss all of you terribly once you are gone. I think I am a poor substitute, but my bad reputation should cause quite the stir and provide a little bit of entertainment for her.”
“Grace, that is awful. You are not a grotesque to be ogled at a side show. I’ll have to speak to Miranda about this later. For now, slipping away tonight is our top priority.”
“How are we to accomplish it with those agents watching our every move?”
“We’ll have to create a distraction.”
She nodded. “All right, but how?”
“Fireworks. I’ll have to act quickly to get my hands on as many as can be found on short notice. Setting them off after dark should do the trick. I’ll enlist Rafe, Caleb, and Shayne in the planning. Miranda’s going to meddle, too. It is her house, after all. She loves this sort of intrigue.”
Grace sat at the foot of the bed and watched him as he paced like a penned animal.
Perhaps she was right and he did have a bit of the jungle beast in him. Leopards were solitary creatures, and did this not define him? Until Grace came along, he could not imagine himself with any woman.
Indeed, the moment one got too close, he would feel trapped and flee.
But he did not feel trapped around Grace.
Quite the opposite, he could not seem to get enough of her.
He did not even care that he was shut in here with her, a young woman who insisted on marrying only for love.
Love also meant commitment, sacrifice, compromise. Devotion.
Grace would demand all these things and yet, the possibility of marrying her did not frighten him. Perhaps he had been on his own too long and was ready for this change. The thought of pledging himself to her sent not a single shudder through him.
He laughed silently, knowing this might be a sign he was finally growing up. He had been an unmitigated brat as a child and much the same as an adult. Well, he needed to be unmanageable in order to succeed in his job. He was proud of his work, those hard, dirty assignments vital to the safety of England and her royal family.
Having spent years up to his eyeballs in intrigue and deceit, was he now ready to move on and give more of himself to marriage and family?
Was he having these feelings only because of Grace?
He had faced this decision once before.
What a time to think of Lady Genevieve.
He dismissed the thought and returned his attention to Grace and their escape to Bexhill.
She had her big eyes trained on him and appeared to be hanging upon his every word. He cleared his throat and continued. “I’ll ask Rafe and Shayne to acquire the fireworks for us. I’m sure they can do it.”
“Because they have made friends at the highest levels while participating in taking down my family?”
His heart tightened. “Grace…”
“It is all right. I know mine was in the wrong. Yours has every reason to shun me and yet, they have gone out of their way to be kind.”
He knelt beside her and took her hands in his. “Do you feel you are betraying your father by staying here?”
She nodded. “A little. Sometimes. Mostly, I feel humiliation for what he has done.”
“And I do not help by treating you in my oafish manner.”
“No, Deklan. Not at all. For the most part, you are decent to me. All my other friends treat me as though I no longer exist.”
“It is their loss. And I hope you find me more than just decent toward you.” He sighed. “But let’s get back to our escape plan.”
She cast him a delicate smile. “You do love your plans.”
