“Deal,” she said with a smile. “And, for starters, I think I need you to kiss me again.”
He laughed and pulled her close again, dipping his face toward hers, and her eyes fluttered closed. For the briefest moment, he dropped a kiss on the other corner of her mouth, honoring again the edge of her lips. Then he lifted only breath away from her and dropped his lips reverently but fully on hers.
Her lips were sweet and loving, and no part of him felt ashamed. Not of her, not of him, and most definitely not for taking this moment to fight for her and what she wanted from him. Mercy tasted like redemption and forgiveness and the bravery that came with moving forward instead of looking back.
Because the two of them together had to be his future, and he wouldn’t taint it with thoughts of unworthiness.
She kissed him back, and her kiss was a promise, one that had him a breath away from kicking the door closed and repeating the last few minutes all over again. With an unsteady sigh, he pulled away. He knew he must be smiling like an idiot, and he didn’t care. He didn’t need to hide any part of him from Mercy. “I think perhaps you should go speak to your parents.”
“I certainly should. No doubt they will be curious as to what we have been...” Mercy arched an eyebrow. “Talking about.”
Her hand went to the doorknob, and he stopped her by covering it with his own. She spun around, her kiss-roughened lips curving into an impish grin, and her eyes went straight to his mouth. Oh no, he’d made his point. He was done kissing her, at least for now.
He squeezed her hand underneath his. “Wait. Before you go, I have something for you.” He lifted his hand to his breast pocket and pulled out the thin silver chain. It was a family heirloom, but not one anyone had worn for generations. “I brought you this.”
“But, Nicholas.” Mercy’s hand went to her heart, as if she were thoroughly scandalized. “We aren’t even engaged.”
“A point I would like to remedy as soon as possible. Wear that tonight. It won’t impede your dancing.”
Mercy reached for the chain and slid it between her finger and thumb. “It is lovely. But if I wear a present of yours, people may assume we are engaged.”
“If what we just did doesn’t make you assume the same, I’m afraid I have sorely misread you.”
“I suppose I don’t have to tell anyone where I got it.”
“Mercy.” Nicholas dipped his head low and dropped one more soft of kiss on her lips. “I want you to wear it and tell everyone where you got it.”
She lowered her head and looked up at him as if she were shyand not the kind of woman who had demanded he take off his cravat so she could look at his neck and then proceeded to use that cravat to make a game out of his sensibilities.
“If I do, then I suppose you will have the answer to the question you never even bothered to ask me.” She smiled, pulled the door wide open, and stepped out of the room. “Put that cravat back on.” She motioned toward it with her head then winked at him. “You look much too tempting without it.”
Chapter 26
When Mercy looked back afterleaving the drawing room, she had expected to see Nicholas untying the knots on his cravat and putting himself to rights, but instead he was still standing in the doorway, watching her as she walked away.
She clenched his necklace tightly in her left fist, blew him a kiss, and practically skipped up the stairs. The world would see her silver chain as not even coming close to comparing to Mama’s emeralds. But Mama couldn’t have felt more pleasure in her stones than Mercy did in the gift Nicholas had given her. He could have given her emeralds that she would never wear. Instead, he’d chosen something simple for her. Something she could put on tonight and never take off. She couldn’t wait to show it to Kate and have her help her put it on, but first she needed to speak with Mama and Papa.
She knocked on Mama’s door a moment later, and Mama beckoned for her to come in. The moment Mercy stepped in the room, her parents leaned forward expectantly. Mercy smiled. They would be very happy about the news. For two people who had always claimed to have no particular interests in ranks and positions, they certainly put a lot of hope in Mercy marrying a duke.
She was about to make them very, very happy.
But perhaps she could have a little fun first. Something about her encounter with Nicholas had left her insides bubbling like champagne. She hadn’t felt this giddy since she was a young girl receiving her first pair of dancing slippers. “Are the two of you ready? Guests should be arriving any moment.”
Mama’s eyes narrowed. “You have no news for us?”
“What do you mean?”
“The duke . . .” Papa stepped forward. “Has he . . .”
Mercy blinked, eyes wide. “Has he what?”
“Devil take it, Mercy. You know better than to toy with us,”Papa said, his eyes narrowed and his voice like a growl. The room went cold. Papa never cursed, at least not in front of Mercy or Mama. “You need to make him propose, and you need to accept. The sooner, the better.”
“Joseph—” Mama started, but Papa waved her aside. First swearing, and now dismissing Mama like that? What was going on?
Mercy’s stomach tightened and felt heavy, like she had eaten a whole loaf of hard, dry bread. She slowly slipped Nicholas’s necklace into the small pocket on the inside of her belt. This conversation needed to come first. “Why?”
“We want you to be happ—” This time Mercy cut off Mama. Papa’s mood was spreading.
