Page 22 of The Lord Next Door I Wished For
Heat burst into her cheeks so quickly, she didn’t know what to make of it.
She wasn’t the type to blush. Then again, a handsome man never complimented her so bluntly before. But then a suspicion occurred to her and she had to ask, “Are you in earnest?”
He let out a huff of amusement. “Very. And I owe you an apology for the other night. I was caught unawares, and I’d just spent the previous few months evading marriage-minded mamas on the continent so I suppose I had my guard up and…” He looked down at his hands in his lap. “Well, I’m sorry.”
She blinked once. Twice. “You’re apologizing.”
“Yes.” He glanced over. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes.”
He laughed. “I suppose I really have made a terrible impression then.”
“No, it’s not that,” she said quickly. “It’s just that even as a child you never apologized when you were in the wrong. You were far too proud.”
His gaze met hers and held. “Well then, perhaps I grew up as well.”
A silence fell that felt far too heavy and intimate.
Jane shifted away and cleared her throat. “Perhaps you’d best explain what you meant last night…”
“About marrying you?” And just like, he was back. The confident young lord in full possession of himself as he gave her a crooked grin. “It’s simple, really. I need to marry, and I don’t want to marry someone of my grandfather’s choosing. You also need to marry, and I assume you’d rather not sit by and hope that your mother doesn’t shackle you to someone wretched.”
Her lips were parted and she couldn’t stop staring, waiting to find any sign that he was in jest. But he just met her gaze evenly.
“Why me?” she said.
That seemed to surprise him. “Why not you?”
“You yourself just pointed out your popularity on the continent,” she said, irritation in her voice. “You could have your pick of ladies. So why me?”
He hesitated, and for a second she felt a flicker of something warm and light…
Hope, maybe.
But then logic returned. “Oh,” she said. “I see.”
His brows drew down but she didn’t give him a chance to spell this part out for her. That would be too embarrassing.
“The neighboring land, of course. My mother mentioned your grandfather’s interest in joining our families. It makes sense, I suppose.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “So you’re considering my offer then?”
“Do I have a choice?”
She didn’t mean for it to come out so harsh, and tried to soften it. “I merely mean, my parents are already half mad with excitement and—”
“Of course you have a choice.” His voice was so low it was nearly a growl. “I didn’t mean to force your hand, I just…” He looked away.
He was silent for a long moment, his gaze distant like he was lost in thought. But then he turned to face her with a new intensity that unnerved her. “What is it you want, Jane?”
“Does that matter?”
“Yes. It matters.” He fixed her with a stare she couldn’t avoid no matter how much she glanced away and fidgeted.
What did she want? The question made her head spin. What if she told him that she’d made a wish at a maypole for a stable of her own? For horses to ride whenever she wished and…
She shook off the fanciful thought. He wasn’t asking about silly wishes, he was asking what she wanted for her future. “I’ve always known I’ll have to marry.”
