Page 48 of Romancing the Rifleman
She crossed her arms.“Why?”
Still, he wouldn’t look at her.“I… I just do.”
Diana narrowed her eyes.As if such a paltry excuse was going to work.She was aLatimer.She was so practiced in being intractable as to render it an art form.
And she was not leaving this room without getting someanswers.
“I will not leave until you tell me what’s going on.”
At last, he looked at her, guilt written plainly on his face.“Nothing’s going on!”
She raised a single eyebrow.
He grunted, scrubbing a hand across his face.“It’s unfair.How do you do that thing with your eyebrow?”
She lowered the first eyebrow and raised its companion.
“Fine!”he snapped, but his expression immediately softened.“It’s not you, Diana.You’re… gorgeous and perfect and, well,” he gestured to his groin, “it’s patently obvious that I want you.”
She strove to infuse her voice with patience rather than annoyance.“What, then, is the difficulty?”
He closed his eyes.“I… I promised your brother.”
Her eyes sharpened.“What,” she said slowly, her voice full of menace, “did you promise my brother?”
He opened his eyes, and they were full of sorrow.“I promised him I wouldn’t make love to you.”
In spite of her best efforts, her voice held a note of danger.“Tell me everything.”
“He made you swear on your brother’sgrave?”
Diana knew that strangling someone was an act usually performed with two hands.
No matter.She was going to strangle Marcus.
Somehow, she would find a way.
She chanced a look at her husband.Poor Harrington.She could tell he was genuinely distressed.
He was speaking quickly.“He wants you to have the option to annul the marriage.”
Diana rolled her eyes.“Yes, he’s been droning on about that to me as well.”
Harrington was still speaking, giving no appearance of having heard her.“Should you change your mind.He pointed out that we didn’t have a very long courtship, and I couldn’t really argue.”He looked at her, eyes pleading.“And I do want you to have options, Diana.I would never want you to feel trapped… You know.With me.I know the only reason you even contemplated marriage with me was like you said—for king and country.”He made a slashing motion with his hand.“When you change your mind, I want you to come out on the other side unscathed.”
She noted his choice of words—whenshe changed her mind.Not if.It was telling that he couldn’t even imagine a scenario in which she wanted to be his wife.
She needed to proceed with care.
Taking his hand, she led him to the bed, tugging him down so they were sitting on its edge, facing one another.“I think you are overestimating the chances that I will wish to have our marriage annulled.”
“I’m not.”He gave a humorless laugh.“Just wait until you get to know me.”
She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.“Your statement that I don’t know you as well as I would like is not inaccurate.But I can honestly say that I like you better than any other man I’ve met.”
He looked stunned.“Me?”he asked quietly.
“You,” she said firmly.“My brother was wrong to ask that of you.But I would never expect you to break such a vow.I can easily understand why the mere thought is distressing to you.”
