“How did you and Wyatt meet?”her mother asked.
Priscilla felt as though the wind had been knocked from her lungs.Her mother knew the truth, she could sense it, and Priscilla hated lying to her anyway.“I placed an ad in the paper.”
“And why didn’t you tell me?”
Biting at her lip, she shook her head.“I thought you’d be disappointed.I broke every rule you ever taught me.”
“Ah, so you did it to protect me?Our relationship?”
Priscilla nodded.
“Has it occurred to you that he didn’t tell you the entire truth for the exact same reason?”
Her mouth dropped open and drat it all if her mother wasn’t right.They were exactly the same.“But I love you.”
Her mother gave her a side eye, her brows lifting.“And how did you know that he doesn’t love you?”
“We’re a match of convenience.I don’t love him and he doesn’t love me.”
“Don’t be silly,” her mother huffed.“Of course you love him.That’s why you married him.”
“I married him because he agreed to allow me control of father’s assets.I needed to protect the trust that father placed in my...”
“What?”
“He taught me how to manage the money and left it in my care.I know he wished for me to protect his legacy.”
“Maybe.”Her mother laced her fingers into Priscilla’s.“But he also taught you to love your family with your whole heart.”
That shook Priscilla right down to her toes.Because everything her father did had been infused with love.
“Perhaps what you’ve been missing is a little more heart,” her mother whispered, leaning over to kiss Priscilla’s cheek.
Priscilla rose.Because her mother was right.This whole time she’d been attempting to protect her father’s finances when his real inheritance had been his love and affection.
She shouted her goodbye as she sprinted from the room, racing toward the one place she knew Wyatt would be.The carriage house.
But she hadn’t made it down six steps when footfalls boomed up toward her.She stopped, Wyatt coming into view as he rounded the corner of the narrow back stairs.“Wyatt!”
In answer he charged toward her, sweeping her into his arms, his lips finding hers.
She kissed him back, every fiber of her body responding to his.
Her arms twined about his neck as he pressed her back into the wall, their bodies so close, not an ounce of air moved between them.
He felt so strong as her legs wrapped about his waist, his hands holding her up by her behind.“Wyatt,” she gasped between kisses.“I have to tell you something.”
“Is it that you want me to make love to you right here?”he said before kissing her again, their tongues as desperate as their bodies to close the distance between them.
“Yes,” she replied breathlessly when the kiss finally broke.“But more than that…”
“What, love?”
Heat filled her cheeks.She didn’t know how else to say it and so the words just tumbled from her lips.“I love you.It’s why I was so upset.I just…I know I wasn’t supposed to…I tried to resist…”
But she stopped when his mouth covered hers again.
With an agility that left her breathless, he pushed up her skirts, undoing his own falls.When he pushed inside her, they both groaned their satisfaction.
