Page 57 of Courting Miss Lancaster
“That is all I have ever wanted.”
“Then why did you not court me yourself?”
“Adam expressly forbade any fortune hunters from soliciting your hand,” Harry answered.
Athena cut him off before he could continue. “But you arenot a fortune hunter. Mr. Rigby was a fortune hunter. You could never be so cruel and unfeeling and inherently dishonest.”
Harry felt his smile spread wider. “Adam told me essentially the same thing.” Harry locked his hands together behind Athena, relishing the warmth of her so close to him. “Although he used words I would not dare repeat in front of a lady.”
“Then Adam approves?” She smiled, though the dimple was not yet evident.
“I think Adam would condone and assist a kidnapping and elopement if he thought I would go along with the idea.”
The slightest hint of a blush suddenly appeared on Athena’s face, her expression instantly almost bashful. Harry was beyond intrigued. “I wouldn’t object to a kidnapping,” she said quietly. She smiled as she spoke, and that one enchanting dimple made its long-awaited appearance.
“I have wanted to do this for ages,” Harry whispered, more to himself than to Athena.
“Do what?” she asked, the last word cutting off mid-syllable as Harry took hold of her face and leaned closer to her.
Heart racing and pounding again, he bent toward her and slowly, gently kissed the dimple just at the corner of her mouth. He heard and felt her sigh and knew it was a lost cause. He had intended only to talk with her. He’d get back to the talking eventually.
The slightest shift was all that was necessary for his lips to touch hers. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair, but that tiny part of his mind that was still functioning rationally knew that such obvious damage to her appearance would not easily be put to rights. He would not subject her to the gossip that would create. Harry contented himself with touching her face, her neck, wrapping his arms around her and simply holding her to him.
Athena’s arms hooked around his neck as she returned hiskisses with obvious enthusiasm. Being romantically courted may have been Athena’s dream, but being kissed like that by Athena had long been Harry’s.
He smiled as he pulled away. Harry kept his hands on her shoulders, his arms a little stiff, in order to maintain the necessary distance. Closed doors and heartfelt confession were, it seemed, a dangerous combination. He would need to take extra precautions to avoid such things until everything was official and such liberties were permitted.
“Oh, Harry,” Athena said, her voice a little breathless, her face flushed still.
Harry smiled, happiness permeating every inch of him. She moved toward him, and he stiffened his arms, preventing her from approaching. “You need to stay over there.” He laughed lightly. “Your lips are temptation enough without the smell of violets undermining my self-control.”
“Then you won’t be kidnapping me after all?” Athena asked, her eyes twinkling and alive again. The weight he’d seen there only that afternoon as he’d observed her in the drawing room had vanished, and Harry’s heart sang with relief.
“No. But I would very much like to marry you,” he said. “I have loved you without hope for so long. And now... Adam and Persephone approve. All I need to know is if you love me—if you love me enough to marry a man who has absolutely nothing to offer you.”
“You have yourself to offer, Harry,” Athena corrected. “That is what I want.”
“Will you marry me, my love?”
Athena smiled as brightly as Harry ever remembered seeing and nodded.
In an instant she was in his arms, holding tightly to him and laughing joyously. It was music.
“Are you two almost done in there?” Adam’s voice penetratedthe cocoon of privacy Harry had felt surrounding them in the same instant the door opened. “You could have gotten married and raised half your family in the amount of time you’ve taken.”
Harry kept Athena in his arms as he chuckled and faced his friend. “We’ve only been in here ten minutes, Adam.”
“Long enough for me to insist you marry her,” Adam pointed out. “I’ll get you a special license. You can be married tonight. We’ll wrap this up, and we can all go home.”
“No, Adam,” Harry said. “Post the banns, we’ll marry at Falstone Chapel. At Christmas.”
“Christmas!” Adam stepped closer to them, his stance defiant. “That is a full month away, you sniveling worm.”
“It will be a very busy month, I assure you.” Harry tightened his hold on Athena, even kissing the top of her head.
Adam’s expression shifted into the seething, bubbling calm that always indicated he was moments from slicing some unsuspecting person’s throat. “Busyin what way?” he asked, his eyes pointedly moving to Harry’s arms wrapped very snuggly around Athena.
“Nothing untoward, I assure you. I simply think Athena ought to be courted like any young lady would wish to be.” Adam raised an eyebrow. “Under the watchful eye of her guardian, of course,” Harry added.
