Page 47 of The Thief
He smiled. “I will always take care of you,” he whispered, taking her hand in his.
She stared at him and felt her heart melt, knowing that after this, her life would not be the same.
“Scarlett Kensington, when this is all over, regardless of the outcome, will you consider becoming my wife?”
Scarlett felt her jaw drop open at his words.
“You do not need to answer right now. I can wait until we have found out what happened to Catriona, but I wanted to ask you so you would know how I feel.”
She nodded mechanically, just trying to understand that he had just proposed to her.
And so suddenly as well.
A full minute passed with no response and Alastair felt awkward waiting for her to answer so he said, “I am going to remove the towel now, all right?”
All the air came rushing back into Scarlett’s lungs and she gasped out, “Yes!”
He stared at her, and removed the towel, handing it to Bard.
She searched his face with her eyes and asked, “Are you sure about this?”
“The antidote?” he asked, thoroughly confused.
“About marrying me? You haven’t even met my parents yet, although I did ask them to come next week at the same time as your parents.”
Alastair grasped her hand and held it tightly in his.
“We are very compatible in many ways, we enjoy each other’s company, and I feel as if I can be myself around you without fear of judgement. You also love children. That is everything I could want in a wife. I also am very excited to meet your amazing parents who raised such a great daughter.”
Not exactly the declaration of love that Scarlett was hoping for, but she knew that not all marriages began with love. She wasn’t even sure that she loved Alastair, so she could not be upset if he did not know either. Her parents’ marriage had not started with love, but they loved each other very deeply now.
“I know we will have to wait until some trace of Catriona is found or they declare the search over, but I would be very comfortable marrying you,” she said, smiling almost timidly at him.
His smile brightened and he leaned over and kissed her.
Not a full kiss, but just a brief one that was almost over as it began.
“For now, it will be a secret the three of us know,” he whispered.
She nodded in agreement and she noticed that Bard nodded as well.
“Let us go. You need your rest, and I need to tend to some business. I will make sure that Bard stays with you until Melody gets back.”
With a sudden yawn, she said, “Thank you.”
He looked back at her as he headed to the hallway door.
“It is undeniably my pleasure,” he whispered, walking out.
He left strict instructions for Bard to stay with her and headed back down to his study.
Marriage?
“What happened?” he asked aloud.
He had been sitting there staring at her, knowing that he didn’t want to lose her, and it had just come out.
He would not lose her if he married her. She wouldn’t go back to Ciomodors Garden and leave him behind if she married him. He had no idea why the idea of her leaving made him so nervous, but it was so unsettling to him.
She had agreed, which was excellent. Alastair did want to marry her.
He went back over the list of reasons he gave and couldn’t help but agree that they were perfectly valid reasons to get married.
So, they were now engaged, and there was still an attempted murderer and thief on the loose.
He also had both of their parents coming next week.
When he got back to his study, he banged his head down on the desk.
It was going to be a long week.
