Page 114 of The Last Chance
“I’ll be ten minutes, no more,” she said, hurrying upstairs.
It was dark, but she knew what she wanted. Two tokens she would present to Aaron when she explained what loving him meant to her. She found the first amongst her paste jewellery, the second in her nightstand, tucked inside the paper pocket of her diary.
She was staring at the armoire, wondering whether to pack more clothes, when she heard Aaron call her name. The woeful cry was loud enough to shake the heavens. The shout rang with the pain of a man who was lost.
“Joanna!”
She hurried to the window and looked out onto the street.
Aaron stood outside Fortune’s Den, wearing nothing but tight breeches. Rain dripped from his coal-black hair. Rain drenched his bronzed skin, running down his torso in rivulets.
“Joanna!”
Their gazes locked, though his eyes swam with fear.
She raced downstairs and was outside in seconds. She didn’t ask what he wanted or question why he was standing in the rain.
“I’m here,” she cried, throwing herself into his arms, hugging him so tightly she could barely breathe. “I’ll always be here.”
They kissed, a wild, passionate kiss, their mouths crashing together, a rampant mating unhindered by the rain.
“You left,” he said, panic still marring his voice as he clasped her face in his bruised hands. “I shouldn’t have let you watch me fight.”
“I’d seen enough. I couldn’t stand there waiting for someone to hurt you. I went to The Jade to collect something important.”
He kissed her again, a kiss as fierce as it was desperate. “I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d driven you away.” He dashed raindrops from her cheeks. “Ignore what I said earlier. We can leave London tonight. We can live at The Jade if it makes you happy.”
She gazed into his eyes, knowing he would move mountains for her. “You waited in the rain for me. You’ve shown me what it means to love someone. Let me do the same.”
She reached for his hand and placed the onyx sovereign ring in his palm. “It’s a gift but not for you. You’ll merely be the custodian.”
He frowned, confused.
“It’s Justin’s ring.” She didn’t mention it was found on the body in the woods. “It belonged to our grandfather, and I want our first-born son to have it. That’s assuming you’ll ask me to marry you and stop alluding to the possibility.”
“You know I’d marry you in a heartbeat.”
“And this is my solicitor’s card.” She placed it in his palm, too. “Don’t worry if it gets wet. We can acquire another when he draws up our marriage contract. Our first-born daughter will inherit The Burnished Jade when she comes of age. Until then, it’s mine. I made a vow to help my ladies, a vow I intend to keep.”
Aaron smiled, a slow smile that curled her toes. “I love you. When I’m dry and dressed, I’ll ask the question?—”
“Ask me now.”
Aaron didn’t hesitate. He dropped to one knee in the rain. “Marry me, Joanna. Be my colleague, my friend, my lover, my wife. I’ll try to be the man you deserve.”
“I would be honoured to be your wife, Mr Chance.” Tears welled in her eyes. “You’re more than I deserve. You’re everything to me.”
They spent the next minute kissing passionately, a little too passionately, because it sparked a fever in her blood.
“And one more thing,” she said, unable to resist stroking his noticeable bulge discreetly. “I like you in tight breeches. Wear them when I come to your room tomorrow night.”
His voice was low and husky when he said, “I need you tonight. I have the key to your club. I’ve often sat in my study, imagining you luring me into your bed at The Burnished Jade.”
She touched him again because she couldn’t help herself. “Let’s pray you want me with the same fervency when we’re married.”
“I’ll want you every damn day of my life.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
