Page 90 of Last Night with the Duke
He smiled. “I only learned this morning that you’d asked Mr. Lambert to leave and thought he had. You didn’t know he’d returned.”
It didn’t matter. She was no longer a part of his household.
“I don’t want to talk about that, Griffin. It will serve no purpose.”
“It will for me.”
She looked at his broad shoulders and wanted to touch him again. “You,” she mumbled softly. “This is why I don’t like peers. It’s always about what you want. It never matters what others want. I have enough to deal with concerning Josephine and the agency, and your feelings about what happened aren’t high on my list right now.”
He gave her a lopsided smile that made her heart start spinning.
“After what just happened between us? After what you felt and I felt, you’re still miffed with me?”
Was she?
“Perhaps I am,” she admitted honestly.
“Are you going to forgive me for making a human mistake yesterday or are you going to hold it against me the rest of my life?”
Didn’t he know he wouldn’t be in her bed if she hadn’t already forgiven him?
“I don’t know,” she said as she reached over and kissed the crook of his neck.
His arm went around her shoulders. “It’s partly your fault, you know.”
“And why is that?”
“You should have interrupted me and told me to stop ranting about Sara and Lambert because someone had come and taken Napoleon away from Josephine.”
“You were already too angry.”
“I was rash.”
“You were being a beast.”
“I talked before I had all the facts.”
“You didn’t want to listen.”
He chuckled as his hand traced the line of her shoulder and down her arm to the plane of her hip. “You really have a low opinion of me, don’t you?”
“Peers in general,” she admitted honestly. “Though, I have to say that when I first went into your employ, you were kinder than I thought you would be.”
“But then yesterday I acted just the way you expected me to, didn’t I?”
“I knew you would eventually show your true self. And you did. You overreacted.”
“I talked before I had all the facts,” he repeated.
“You wouldn’t have listened anyway.”
All of a sudden, he rolled her over onto her back and propped himself on his elbows as he settled his body between her legs. “I’m afraid what I’m going to tell you now will not change your opinion of me, but I’m going to say it anyway because you are right. I do like to get my way. I do intend to get my way. I’m going to marry you, Esmeralda.”
A tremor shook her. “What?” She tried to rise, but he remained solidly on top of her.
“Lie back down,” he said softly. “You heard me. I’m going to marry you. I’m in love with you, Esmeralda. You’re the one I want. And you’re going to be my wife.”
You’re the one I want. You’re going to be my wife.
