Page 13 of Jordan
"You have talent. But you don't need me to tell you that. The movie does little justice to the book."
"It rarely does." She could not explain the warm glow inside her at his compliment.
"What's next?"
"I am currently working on something else."
"Care to share?" he asked lightly. Getting her to talk about her work was doing the trick of making her relax.
"Nope. You're going to have to wait and see just like everybody else."
"Not even a hint?"
Her laughter sounded clear as a bell in the silence of the air around them and showed her dimples, very attractive ones, sinking in her cheeks and giving her the look of a mischievous flirt. To his surprise, he felt his interest kindling and his body paying attention.
"Not even a hint." She cupped her hands around the cup, absorbing the warmth and felt herself relaxing. Being with him like this brought back the memories of how he had tried to be her friend when she had been banished from the manor by his mother. Pushing aside the insidious hurt she had felt afterwards by his rejection; she concentrated on the fact that he had some decency in him.
"I've been thinking about your offer."
"And?"
Carefully putting the cup on the table in front of her, she turned to face him. "You said in name only."
"Unless you want it to be more," he murmured, amber eyes watching her.
"No." Clasping her hands in front of her, she slid her gaze from his and shifted slightly. "That's exactly what I want. How do we go about it?"
Squelching the dart of pleasure, he gave her a sober look.
"What changed your mind?"
"That's not important." She certainly had no intention of revealing what was written in her mother's diary. That was very personal. She wasn't sure she could even show it to Caleb. Caleb! Stifling a groan, she realized she was going to have to sell this to her brother and get him to come on board. He hated the Wainwrights even more than she did.
"What's the matter?" Because his eyes were on her face, he detected the change of expression and the note of distress.
"Nothing."
"I think if we're going to do this, we should come to some sort of agreement."
"What agreement?"
"Honesty," he said simply. "With each other at least."
Putting down the cup, she rose and wandered over to the peeling handrail, unseeing eyes taking in the squirrels scampering up the oak tree. "I was a tomboy," she said it almost absently, fingers digging into the wood. "Or I wanted to be." She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she barely felt when he came to join her. "I followed Caleb everywhere. He was annoyed of course," a smile touched her lips. "But he would put up with me." She turned her head to face him, slightly flustered to realize that he was so close. Close enough for her to see the stubble on his cheeks and noticed the dent in his strong chin. As well as the fact that he had long silky lashes. Tearing her eyes from his face, she concentrated on the strong column of tanned throat exposed by the open collar of his baby blue shirt. "My brother and I are close."
"That's admirable." He remembered the guy and was aware that he was a cop. "You're worried he's going to cause problems."
Lifting her chin, she met his gaze. "What about your parents?" she challenged.
A slow smile touched his lips, but did not meet his amber eyes. "I think we should announce our engagement. At dinner."
Fear was alive and well inside her chest. "When?"
"Tonight. The sooner the better. I could get a ring." Picking up her hand, he spread her fingers out, admiring the elegance. "A square cut diamond, with cut emeralds. Mother will appreciate the quality." A sardonic tone entered his deep voice.
"What if they decide to disinherit you?" the thought had occurred to her earlier.
He actually grinned at that. "That's not possible." He shrugged carelessly. "It might have been, except for the fact that I have my own money. And the condition to the will is that the eldest son inherits the bulk of the property. No question asked, no conditions. They cannot hurt me financially."
