Royal's Bride by Kat Martin

Author:Kat Martin [Martin, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781410423184
Publisher: Gale
Published: 2009-08-31T14:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

The day seemed to go on forever. Lily had opened the shop for business that morning, though the official opening wasn’t until next week. Every hat was perfectly in place, all the trim set out so the ladies could make their own personal choice of hats they might wish to design.

The shop was ready for business. Lily had even added a few homey touches to the tiny apartment upstairs: lace doilies on the arms of the settee, an embroidered linen tablecloth on the tiny oak table, several petit-point samplers hanging on the walls. The shop was ready. The apartment was prepared, though she wouldn’t actually be moving in for some months yet, not until Jocelyn was married.

The thought sent a chill down her spine. Jo would marry the duke, though she didn’t love him. The duke would marry Jo to gain her fortune. Sometimes the world was an ugly place, Lily thought.

She shook off the thought, determined to return to her usual optimistic nature. Buoyed by the sale of a pretty silk bonnet during the first hour she was open, she didn’t take much notice of the time until late in the afternoon. Worried that Royal would appear at any moment, growing more and more restless, Lily set aside the bonnet she was sewing and tried to read, one of her favorite pastimes, but it was impossible to concentrate.

By four o’clock she was pacing the floor, wishing she had never told Royal she would talk to him. Just when the tension seemed to stretch to unbearable limits, she spotted his tall figure through the mullioned panes on the top half of the door.

Lily took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and started walking in his direction. She paused as Royal walked in, ringing the bell above the door. He strode toward her, stopped directly in front of her, and suddenly the air in the room seemed to vanish. Her chest squeezed and it was difficult to breathe.

She forced herself to inhale a deep breath. “You came.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t still be here.”

“I told you I would be.”

“Yes, you did, but I was afraid you might—”

“What is it you want…Your Grace?”

His tawny gaze darkened at the use of his title instead of his name. “I think we are far beyond that, sweetheart, don’t you?”

Lily’s cheeks flushed. About as far as a man and woman could get. “I thought that…that putting some distance between us might…might be wise.”

His eyes bored into her. “If I had my way, there wouldn’t be the slightest distance between us, Lily. I would bury myself so far inside you we wouldn’t be able to tell where one of us stopped and the other began.”

Her eyes widened and her cheeks burned. The words stirred an image so erotic dampness slid into her core. “Royal, please, you…you mustn’t talk that way.”

He sighed into the quiet inside the shop. “I know. It’s just that when I see you, I seem to forget everything but having you again.”

Her heart stuttered. He wanted her.

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