Jo Goodman by With All My Heart

Author:With All My Heart [Heart, With All My]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-10-26T21:06:18+00:00

Chapter 10

Nat won the wager. He won because he was the only employee or guest of the Phoenix who thought it would take Grey Janeway an entire week to wear Berkeley down. When asked how he arrived at the winning number for his submission, Nat's answer was simple: He thought God Himself would have needed the seventh day if Miss Shaw had been around to try His patience. Amid the raucous laughter, Nat was very happy to collect three hundred dollars.

Courting in earnest was an exhausting business, Grey decided as he leaned against the bar. First there had been the matter of flowers. He had filled Berkeley's suite with them. He surprised her with carriage rides in the afternoon, theater and opera tickets in the evening, and a Sunday steamer trip up the Sacramento River. Grey had no plan except to keep her so busy she'd marry him simply to get a rest. At the very least she would have to move in with him to make room for the flowers.

Grey followed Berkeley's progress as she wended her way through the crowd toward him. She was stopped several times by guests and gamblers and always spent a moment with each one, but her beautiful eyes invariably darted toward him, seeking him out as if he were her calm in the storm. He thought how odd that was, that she should see him in that light when he rarely experienced the kind of peace she gave him credit for. He found himself straightening at the bar, wanting to go to her. He held back, not certain she really needed or desired to be rescued, and selfishly, because he wanted her to come to him.

Then she was there, standing in front of him, her fingers lightly brushing his hand. "Is everything all right?" she asked, searching his face. His jaw was set, and a muscle worked faintly in his cheek. His eyes radiated intensity.

Grey caught her fingers and drew her inches closer. "Everything's fine," he said deeply. And it was. She was here, with him, and she had come of her own accord. "No regrets."

Berkeley's smile was uncertain. "Are you asking if I have any?" she said. "Or telling me that you did?"

"I was asking."

She glanced behind her. The Phoenix was crowded this evening, but a small protective semicircle had been invisibly drawn around where she and Grey stood. Berkeley felt quite alone with him, quite safe. "No regrets. I held out for seven days because I wanted to be sure." And she had given in because there could be no assurances where Grey was concerned.

"I thought you held out because you wanted Nat to win the pool."

Berkeley's smile was secretive. "You're not going to get me to admit I knew anything about that."

Grey let go of her hand and slipped his own about her waist. "Do you want to go up early this evening?" he asked. "Everyone will understand if you want a few more hours' rest on the eve of your wedding day.

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