Page 21 of The Mister I Married

“I…you…” He trailed off, his jaw flapping as if its hinges had popped.

Saints be, she’d broken him.

“You want a wife to bear your children, and I want a husband who will let me come and go as I please.” Her throat was as dry as sand, but she fumbled on anyway, for there really was no turning back now. “I like you well enough, and I think you like me, and I believe our union would be beneficial, both for you and me, as well as our families.”

She leaned forward and attempted a sanguine smile, as if she’d just made him an offer only a simpleton would refuse. “So, Mr. Whitcomb, what say you? Will you marry me?”

Alex had spent a fair amount of time considering all the possible reasons why Emmy might have asked him here today, but he could honestly say a proposal of marriage had never once entered his mind.

He had no bloody idea what to say.

Was she in earnest? Did she genuinely want to marry him?

She was smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world, but her gaze was expectant, impatient even, as she waited for his answer.

Good Lord. Lady Emmaline Keswick wanted to marry him.

Life could be downright strange sometimes.

“Alex? What is your answer?”

Emmy’s words broke through his astonishment, as did the anxious edge to her voice that she was obviously attempting to hide.

He swallowed. Cleared his throat. Licked his dry lips. Barely resisted the urge to tug at his cravat. “I am flattered by your offer, Emmy,” he said slowly, taking great care with his words. “And I agree that our union would be mutually beneficial. It would certainly make my life easier.”

He paused, clearing his throat again, and Emmy straightened in her seat, her chin rising. “But?”

He sighed. “But you told me yourself you do not wish to marry—at least, you implied as much—and I’m concerned your desire for freedom would interfere with my desire for children. Or, rather, my desire to give my father grandchildren.”

He studied her eyes, her face, and though his scrutiny clearly discomfited her, she did not turn away. She held his gaze, and said, “I admit, I am not entirely sure I’m ready to be a wife, but I have never not wanted to marry. I simply did not wish to marry yet.”

Alex nodded, appreciating her honesty. “I understand that. I’m not entirely certain I’m ready to be a husband, either, but I am certain that when I do marry, it will be to a woman who is prepared to have children straightaway. To live with me, and commit herself to the task until the deed is done.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Are you prepared to agree to that, even if it means delaying your freedom indefinitely?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I am.”

Her voice was firm, but her cheeks were noticeably rosier than they’d been a moment ago, and it bemused him that this bold, unflappable woman should be so precious about marital intimacies.

Until his thoughts turned in a different direction, a decidedly more erotic one involving swollen lips, soft cheeks pink from exertion and hot gray eyes gazing down at him with single-minded intent.

A rush of heat washed over him, hardening his cock with embarrassing swiftness, and he sat back and crossed one leg over the other.

Yes, damn it all, he wanted her.

But did she want him?

She might be perfectly willing to lie with him, but if it was a matter of lying with him and thinking of England, well, bugger that. He would rather chew off his own arm than saddle himself with a wife who didn’t desire him as he desired her.

“I am intrigued by your offer,” he said, clearing his throat again. “However, before I agree to it, there is one final matter I must settle first.”

“If it pertains to my dowry,” Emmy replied, “you needn’t worry. My brother has settled a generous sum on me and—”

Alex shook his head. “It isn’t your dowry.”

“Oh? Then what is it?”

“I want to kiss you,” he blurted out with all the finesse of a drunkard. “To see if we are…compatible.”

His face heated, his palms going damp. God above, could he sound any more ridiculous? He would never claim to be a great seducer of women, but this was beyond the pale.