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‘Miss Linton! We do not have time for such frivolities. Cease this immediately!’
‘Yes, Sir!’ I grinned up at him, and squeezed harder.
A moment of silence, then…
‘You still have not let go, Miss Linton.’
‘Yes, Sir!’
He gazed at me for a moment, apparently not sure what to say - and then he put his arms around me and pulled me close. In that moment, I wouldn’t have exchanged places with anyone, up to and including the Queen of England.
‘In my past, when someone declined a business offer of mine,’ he told me, his voice so low I nearly didn’t catch the words, ‘I have never in my life made a second proposal, let alone a third. Never.’
‘Um…yes. And?’
‘Marry me.’
‘Oh.’
Leaning back until I could look into his eyes, I cupped his face in my hands. ‘You know my answer. You know I can’t.’
His eyes were hard as bedrock at the bottom of the sea. ‘And you know I can’t take no for an answer. Not as long as I know that you love me.’
Taking my hands in his, he slid them from his jaw to his lips and pressed one tender kiss on each palm. Just for an instant, his face softened a tiny little bit.
‘Just imagine what it would be like.’
‘Oh, I have. Trust me, I have.’
‘You would rather be my secretary than my wife?’
I tried to smile at him, but I only managed to lift one corner of my mouth a little. ‘Well, with the former job I at least get one day off a week.’
His face hardened again - and yet, the emotion in his eyes didn’t vanish. On the contrary. It burned with a cold fire bright enough to devour my soul.
‘I won’t give up. Not ever.’
Why didn’t that surprise me?
‘I’m flattered. But for now…do you think it’s possible you could focus your energies on finding some clothes for me? I’ve already been quite impolite to our hosts by missing breakfast. I think your mother wouldn’t approve if I show up to lunch wrapped in a rumpled blanket.’
‘Indeed. That would be impolitic.’
‘And draughty. So…’ I batted my eyelashes up at him. ‘My lady clothes are all stored in my other room, a long way down the corridor. Do you think you can find something for me?’
‘Hm. Well, I suppose I can lend you something of mine. If you promise not to damage it.’
‘Thank you, oh gracious master of the double standard.’
Giving me a look, he strode to the connecting door and disappeared into his room. I dropped the blanket back onto the bed and followed him.
‘Nothing I can find among my things will probably fit you very well, Miss Linton.’
‘I had deduced as much from the anatomic measurements I undertook last night, Sir.’
‘Indeed?’
‘Yes. I was planning to to use your clothes to go to my other room and fetch some of my men’s clothes from there.’
