Page 45 of Shifting Winds
“A courtship, then,” he murmured.
I jerked my head up and stared.
“A proper one.”
My eyes narrowed. “We aren’t in the 1800s.”
“I never said we were.”
This felt like trickery of the highest order. “I’m not asking to be courted. Only respected.”
“A courtship is the proper way to woo a woman a man wants to marry.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. This was going all wrong. “We rarely talk.”
A feral grin. “We’re usually preoccupied with other things.”
“Caelan. I’m serious. I know very little about you, and you know even less about me.”
His expression sobered. “You want me to know you before you say yes.”
This still felt like trickery. “That’s usually the way it works. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy figure out one likes stone ground mustard, the other likes plain yellow.”
“Dijon,” the Shifter Lord said and shrugged.
“Same,” I admitted.
“Mayo or no mayo?” His eyes glittered in the low light.
“Depends. Yes, on sandwiches. No on hot dogs.”
Caelan’s nose scrunched up. “People put mayo on hot dogs?”
“Twenty percent of the population.”
“Sacrilege,” he muttered.
“You forget how I was raised. I’m very much human when it comes to the tradition of love and marriage.”
His strong fingers toyed with my hair. “Can you see yourself being married again? After…” His voice trailed off. “Is this why you’re so hesitant?”
“I don’t like being pushed into any decision I haven’t made on my own, but my past makes me more reticent to tie myself to someone else in that way. Marriage is a sacred covenant, and I won’t be bullied by anyone to enter into one.”
He nodded. “Very well, Evangeline. I will only ask you when I have met your requirements.”
I snorted. “There are no requirements other than to stop pushing me toward the altar.”
“Mmm.” The sound seemed like agreement, but I knew better.
“Do not mess with me, Lord.”
Caelan chuckled. “Messing with you got me right here.”
“Don’t push your luck either.”
He shifted and tilted my chin up, brushing a kiss over my lips. “I will abide by your rules.”
I hadn’t made any rules, but I felt like I’d somehow lost the rule book.
