Page 42 of Miss Harvey's Horribly Lovable Fiancé
“Well, what the hell?” He shot to his feet. “If that’s what you wanted amid all this—”
“It isn’t!” She aimed her pistol for his stomach.
“No? Then whatarewe talking about?”
“Sitdown. We’re talking about money. And pride. And trust.”
“Money, I just told you is what my father got!”
“Yes! At the expense of my own father who worked so diligently to earn it!”
“No! That’s not true. It’s—”
“What?” Appalled she waved the pistol at him.
“Stop swinging that about, please! And that’s not the whole story.”
“Of course, it is! Now take off your frock coat.”
“Esme!”
“Do it!”
“And your waistcoat, your shirt, too.”
He stood again and stripped them off in red hot anger.
“And your breeches.”
Naked to the waist, he growled. He put his hands on his hips. “If your intention is to—”
“It is.” She waved the damn gun at him again.
Hell. He peeled down his very fine doeskin breeches and stood there, politely, quietly, in his silk stockings…with a very sizable and readily growing erection. Pointed straight at her, too.
Fine. He was not about to move. She could jolly well see what she meant to him.
She was so mesmerized, her lips parted and her eyes blinked. Then she gulped hard. Twice. “My goodness.”
He pursed his mouth and let her look her fill. Then he set his jaw. “I do love you, Esme.”
“You offer…that…that?” She used the gun to indicate his penis. “As proof?”
He snorted. “No. You asked for this as proof of your power. You have it. I say I love you and my proof is that I am here to explain it all to you. Because we must talk quietly, Esme.Withoutthe gun and dare I say,withmy clothes on.”
She got a wicked gleam in her brown eyes. “I dare say, I like you without them.”
So she did desire him. One point won. He grinned. “Marry me, my darling, and I’ll prove to you how I love you every minute of our lives.”
She scooped up his trousers in her hand and threw them over her shoulder. “That day is gone, Giles.” Tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “Adieu.”
Chapter 10
She controlled herself all the way to the cross road to Marlborough.
At that turn, she sat and had a very commendable missish cry for herself. Sniffling, it took some doing but finally she got her gumption in hand and congratulated herself on her swift use of the pistol.
But she was happy too, she hadn’t fired it or that it hadn’t misfired. Always a terrible possibility. But she did recall with a salacious grin (that she was delighted no one saw) how she’d stripped him to his skin.
