Too soon, though, he pulled back, although his cobalt gaze still glittered with sensual intent.
“Are we clear now?” he asked, his voice husky and tinged with a brogue.
Charlie touched her mouth. “Uh, yes, I think so.”
He snuggled her back under his arm. “Excellent. Now, perhaps you might tell me what’s really bothering you. I certainly hope it’s not your family, because they are definitely no more ridiculous than mine. Angus is proof of that, and I can recount any number of deranged Kendrick episodes that make your relatives seem dull in comparison.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Believe it. Now, out with it, Charlie. What’s bothering you? Is it that I didn’t tell you about my plan to trick Morgan?”
She waggled a hand. “Yes and no. I understand why you did it, and I accept that. I was very angry with Sir Leslie, and I must confess the thought of shooting him crossed my mind.”
“I think it was rather more than that,” he dryly replied.
“Well, yes. Which I suppose makes me a horrible person.”
“No, it makes you a person who believes in defending the innocent and protecting your family. Both admirable qualities.”
Charlie hesitated for a moment, but then decided that she needed to be entirely honest. “Thank you. Well then, let me just say that I was hurt you didn’t trust me enough to at least share your plans and let me decide how I wanted to respond. I understand you were trying to protect me, as was Papa. But we need to trust each other completely, Kade, if our marriage is to have any chance of success.”
He shifted a bit so he was facing her.
“I do trust you, Charlie. Completely,” he quietly said. “I trust you with my life.”
She blew out a wavering breath of relief. “I’m glad, and forgive me for being a pest, but I still don’t quite understand why you felt the need to keep me in the dark.”
He was quiet for a few moments, as if collecting his thoughts. “For a very long time when I was young, I was dependent on others. As much as I loved my family and was grateful for their care, I hated being so dependent, so weak. When I grew up and was no longer a frail boy, I suppose I went in the other direction, compensating for my frailty, as it were.”
Charlie thought about that, and then nodded. “You decided to become completely independent, without the need to rely on anyone. I can certainly understand why.”
In fact, she was much the same.
“I think that tendency became exaggerated when I took on missions for the Crown,” he added. “By necessity, one learns to work independently.”
“But you did enlist my father’s help in this case.”
“I felt I had to, given that he was unknowingly harboring a potential murderer under his roof. Besides, I needed someone to hear Morgan’s confession. Who better than the local magistrate?”
Charlie wrinkled her nose. “Drat. Your logic is impeccable.”
“Still, I know I hurt you, and I’m deeply sorry for that,” he contritely said. “As well as becoming lamentably independent, I’m also fairly single-minded. It’s how I’ve always gotten things done, Charlie, especially when it comes to my work. It’s become a habit, though I know it’s not necessarily a comfortable one for others.”
She pressed a hand to his chest as she searched his now solemn features. “Also understandable, but how will that habit affect us? I would never in a million years wish to hold you back, Kade, but I don’t want to beleftback, either. I want to be with you, not behind you.”
Her heart now hammered in her chest. She’d finally been able to voice the all-important question. It was the one on which her entire future hung in the balance.
Kade wrapped his strong musician’s hand around hers, the hand that brought such beauty into the world. “Charlie, you are already there. You are everywhere in my life—in my heart, in my music, in every particle of my being. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. A life without you would be utterly dreary, my love, and I sincerely hope that is a prospect I won’t have to face.”
Charlie blinked back a rush of tears—joy mingled with gratitude for what still seemed to her an utter miracle.
“Thunderbolts,” she gruffly said. “Here I am behaving like an absolute watering pot instead of the Highland hooligan I’m supposed to be. Whatever will you think of me?”
He dropped a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “That you’re the bonniest, most incredible woman I’ve ever met. And that I am the luckiest man in all of Scotland to have found you.”
“Actually, I’m the one who found you all those years ago. And I think I’ve basically pestered you into falling in love with me.”
He laughed. “Then feel free to continue pestering as much as you want, because I am looking forward to falling in love with you more each day.”
