Mine, Forever and Always: Historical Romance Novella by Tammy L. Bailey

Author:Tammy L. Bailey [Bailey, Tammy L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Lily huffed, offended that he was mocking her without knowing the full truth. Yes, she was about to become engaged, but because she had no other choice. The opportunity for him to ask for her hand had come and gone.

“I wish I’d never written that letter. It was a mistake on all accounts. However, it cannot be undone. As for becoming engaged, it is not the same as being engaged. If you knew me well enough, Mr. Dalton, you’d know my devotion is unbreakable.” My heart, of course, is another matter.

His gaze fell to hers, narrowed, and lifted away. “Oh, but I do know you well enough, Miss Scott. I’d like to say, I know you better than anyone here.”

She dipped her chin to her chest, not missing the undertone of distrust and anger. She felt trapped, unable to tell him the truth about the letter, unable to accept the fact they had grown so far apart. There he sat contemplating his future with a woman, a wife, who was not her.

So rattled, she spoke her heart before he had the chance to stop her. “I don’t understand how men can talk of marrying so carelessly, without the mention of ardent affection or love.”

His head snapped up, drawing closer to hers. “Love is not a prerequisite to marriage, Miss Scott.”

Lily sighed. “Oh, why do I bother having a conversation with you, when everything you have to say is so very disappointing?”

“It is not my intent to disappoint you in any way.”

Oh, but he had. Despite the distance they’d placed between each other, and him taking every opportunity to anger her, she had never let herself imagine him marrying anyone else, until now. The thought made her shiver, prompting him to discard his jacket and drape it over her shoulders. She realized, since they’d kissed, there existed no more boundaries of propriety between them.

“Still, sir,” she said, her heart starting to ache from the conversation, “you must admit that we live in the modern age where—”

“Where men marry for money and women for comfort? Yes, I admit it fully. For this reason, there should never be any cause for a woman and man to ever fall in love.”

She twisted away at the passionate way he said the words. “Having a conversation with you, regarding the fancies of one’s heart, can be so exhausting, Mr. Dalton.”

He lifted his hand and brought his finger up to coax her face back to meet his. “So now I’m depressing, disappointing, and exhausting?”

She swallowed loudly and tried to keep her gaze from falling to his mouth. “That’s not what I—”

He dropped his hand, straightened, and drew his knees, so his elbows rested on them. Between his two thumbs and index fingers, he twiddled with a small twig. “No, no. Don’t try to explain when it is, in all fairness, an accurate description of me. Even Jane has said it is so.”

“And yet, you make no effort to change. Why?”

“Because I’m moderately wealthy, and I have all my teeth.

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