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“I’m very glad for all of you.” Zach fidgeted with his fingers, making a steeple of them and then lacing them together.
“I’ve been working through this music, Zach, and it’s quite difficult. I hope your faith in me is founded.”
“I assure you I have complete faith in you, Sophie. You were born to play this role.”
“So are we formally courting now?” she asked, her eyes bright.
Zach sighed. “I’m afraid that…your stepfather has refused my suit.”
Sophie’s lips formed an O. “He what? Why would he do such a thing?”
Because apparently I’m not good enough for you. But Zach didn’t say those words. “He feels we are too…different. That you, a lady of the peerage, would never be satisfied with a working man like myself. He feels the theatre is not a reliable income and that I would not be able to support you.”
“But it’s what I want.”
“It’s what I want too, Sophie, more than I ever thought I’d want anything. In fact, I didn’t know exactly how much I wanted it until he told me I couldn’t have it. You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever known.” He’d never known any woman so beautiful who had no idea how beautiful she was. So talented and had no idea how talented she was.
Sophie’s cheeks turned rosy, and she bit on her soft pink lips, turning them into a luscious raspberry color.
“I still would like to see you, Sophie, but if you say no, I will understand.”
“This doesn’t change how I feel about you, Zach. You’ve shown me such… Oh, I can’t even say the words.”
Zach lifted his lips into a small smile.
“Honestly, no man has ever paid me a lick of attention. Why my stepfather thinks that some gentleman of the peerage will come by and snatch me up, I couldn’t tell you.”
“Then no gentleman has bothered to look beneath the surface and find the real you, Sophie. I feel I’ve scratched the surface, and I want to know you deeper, more intimately. I think I’m… I think we could have something special, beautiful.”
Her dazzling mouth dropped into an O shape again.
He could hold back no longer. He took her hands and pulled her up from the piano bench, wrapped his arms around her, held her close, and kissed her sweet pink lips.
Already, he was hurting inside his trousers. This woman affected him like no other ever had. So alluring and so naïve, yet open to exploring her sexuality. Clearly she’d never let another man take liberties with her. For some reason, she had allowed Zach to do so. He had no idea why, but he wasn’t going to question it. He needed her. Whether her stepfather agreed or not, he was going to have her.
He dipped his tongue into her soft, warm mouth, drinking of her essence, partaking of her sweet honey goodness. When he needed a breath, he broke the kiss and nibbled across her cheek to her neck, down to the soft skin of her shoulder.
“Zach,” she said against his shoulder, “we mustn’t do this here. Especially after my stepfather…”
“Please, Sophie,” he whispered against her earlobe. “Please say you’ll agree to see me, even without your stepfather’s approval.”
His heart was beating so wildly he felt sure she could feel it against her breast. What would he do if she refused? He couldn’t even imagine it. She had become so important to him in so short a time. He still wasn’t sure he understood why, but did it matter? She had something that drew him, that spoke to the very innermost chambers of the soul. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
“Please, Sophie. Please don’t leave me.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sophie pushed backward slowly until her knees hit the piano bench, and she sat down with a plop. “What is it, Zach?”
“Please don’t leave me, Sophie.”
The need in his voice shattered her defenses. She had every intention of continuing to see him at rehearsal. “Zach, I’ve made a commitment to the production. I will not leave it.”
“Damn it, Sophie, that’s not what I meant.” Zach let out a heavy sigh. “For the love of God, never mind.” He turned and then looked over his shoulder. “I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow, bright and early.” He left the conservatory, his boots thudding on the marble flooring.
Sophie stood, mouth agape. Since when had Zach Newland become so emotional? She didn’t want to stop seeing him, but could she go against her stepfather’s wishes?
She smiled to herself. Yes. For Zach, she would defy her stepfather. She hated to do it, after all the earl had done for her, Ally, and their mother. He absolutely adored their mother, and he treated Ally and Sophie like his own daughters. Why wouldn’t he allow Zach to court her? After all, gentlemen weren’t exactly lining up for favors. They never had been.
