“You do?”
A slow smile curved across his lips. “I can’t recall a time I didn’t love you. From the moment you marched into my life with grass in your hair and dirt on your boots, I knew I’d never be the same. You had a place in my heart before I even understood what love was.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged, almost sheepish. “Because I was afraid. Afraid if you knew how deep it ran, you might pull away. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
Her throat tightened at the truth in his eyes. He had been waiting all this time. And maybe, just maybe, she had been walking towards him without realizing it.
“I wasn’t ready before,” she admitted. “But I am now.”
He reached for her hands and held them between his own, warm and steady. “Then I propose we make this a true marriage.”
“I am in agreement.”
“Good,” he said, leaning forward just slightly. “And you’d best get used to me kissing you.”
Her gaze dropped to his lips. “You’ll hear no complaints from me.”
And when he kissed her, it was unlike anything that had come before. It was slow, reverent. A promise made in the hush between heartbeats. A kiss that didn’t rush or demand, but cherished.
When he drew back, his eyes were filled with wonder. “I can’t believe this moment is real. I’ve loved you for so long… sometimes I thought it might break me.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
His thumb brushed against her cheek. “No. Your timing is perfect. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to earn your love.”
“You never had to earn it,” she whispered. “You love me without trying to change me. You never have. You’ve always seen me for who I am—and loved me anyway. That means everything.”
He touched her face, tender and adoring. “Should we host a ball?”
She laughed softly. “I’m not sure that’s wise.”
“I want the world to know how madly, irrevocably in love I am with you,” he said. “It’s no less than you deserve.”
“Are you certain?”
He smirked. “Just as certain as when I followed you around as a boy and got scolded for tracking mud into your mother’s drawing room.”
She grinned. “We did get into a lot of mischief.”
“And I promise we’ll continue to do so,” he said, leaning in.
Their lips met again, and this time she kissed him back with everything she had. This wasn’t the beginning of something new—it was the homecoming she never expected. And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she would love this man for the rest of her life.
A soft knock at the door shattered the warmth of the moment, as if the world had suddenly remembered them again.
Evander pulled back, though only slightly, their breaths still mingling between them. Olivia’s gaze shifted to the doorway where Lord Everwyck stood, his hands clasped behind his back.
“May I have a word, Son?” he asked, stepping farther into the room.
Now? Olivia barely suppressed a groan. Could they not have five uninterrupted minutes?
Evander’s voice was reluctant. “Can it not wait?”
But Lord Everwyck didn’t pause. He moved towards them with a measured gait, and there was something in his expression Olivia hadn’t seen before—something that looked suspiciously like humility.
“I feel as if I owe you—and Olivia—an apology.”
