Page 47 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
When he’s finished, he glances at the cake and back at me. “Does she know?”
I shake my head. “I told Temperance the basics, but no one else. I’m not sure what to say to them.”
“Whatever is easiest for you. Anything or nothing. Hell, you don’t even have to wear the ring if it’s going to cause too many questions.”
I jerk my hand back and curl the other around it, as though Lachlan might try to take the ring from me. “I’m not taking it off.”
A satisfied smile crosses his face. “Good. Because I like seeing it on your finger.”
“You don’t have one, though. Although, I guess you probably wouldn’t wear one, would you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Wouldn’t it raise too many questions?”
“No one questions me but you.” His smile only widens, and I give him a matching one.
“I’m not going to apologize for that.”
“I’ll never ask you to.”
My smile widens even further as I reach for the whiskey in front of me, lifting it between us.
“To us,” I say as he reaches for his own.
“To us,” he repeats.
“And to our empire,” I add, tearing my gaze away from his to look out at the sun sinking into the New Orleans skyline as the full moon rises.
“That I can definitely drink to.”
We touch rims before draining the glasses. When mine hits the table, I stare him dead in the eye.
“So, about that butt-plug thing . . . When exactly am I supposed to be ready for that?”
Another laugh reverberates through the restaurant, and I decide Lachlan Mount’s laughter is one of my very favorite sounds in the entire world.
“Soon, hellion. Soon.”
As we work our way through the feast in front of us, talking about anything and everything that comes to mind, hope for the future grows with every passing minute.
This is arguably the second time I’ve gotten married on an impulse, although I’d argue the circumstances were entirely different. But this one, I believe, is going to work.
Not just because it has the force of Lachlan Mount behind it, but because we both acknowledge the challenges facing us and are willing to take them on together.
He has offered his help to me in every possible way. His time. His talent. His fortune. Now all I need to do is get him to realize that he’s as in love with me as I am with him.
> I cut two small pieces of cake and put them on the small extra plates Odile provided, then slide one across the table to Lachlan. “Do you know how this works?”
His brow furrows. “Cake? You eat it.”
I smile. “This isn’t just any cake.”
A look of understanding dawns on his features. “Ah, I see. Is this how you’re going to talk me into letting you stay and work longer, rather than letting me steal you away to some uninhabited beach?”
“No.” I tilt my head. “But how did you know I was planning on that?”
The smile on his face is almost as mesmerizing as his laugh. “Because you love this place, and you won’t leave until you’re sure everything is running perfectly.”
