“What about my family?”
“They would be safe too.” He lowered his brows into a fearsome scowl.
“In that case, I decline.”
He raked his hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. “Let me rephrase.”
She crossed her arms in front of her and gave him a look that clearly said:As if anything you could say now would make it better.
He gazed down at her, and she tried to ignore the traitorous quickening of her pulse. Why did he have to smell so good?
“It has occurred to me that I was mistaken in my previous assessment of our relationship. Do you rememberwhen I said I didn’t think we could ever be friends? I’d like to amend that.”
She glared up at him, hating the way her stupid heart still fluttered with a tiny spark of hope. She must be deranged. “You think we could be friends?”
“Why not? We’ve already been lovers. I was hoping we could amalgamate both roles.”
Her heart crashed to the pit of her stomach. Stupid rat of a man! “You want to make me your mistress? No, thank you.”
She turned away, desperate to escape the suffocating misery that had descended on her like a shroud. She was almost at the door, her hand on the knob, when he spoke.
“Leaving me, princess?”
His soft voice stopped her in her tracks. He’d said those words to her in the same resigned, slightly teasing tone four years ago, at Lady Carlton’s masquerade.
When he hadn’t known who she was.
Emmy sucked in a disbelieving breath.He knew!He knew she was the one who’d danced with him and kissed him and left him alone. How? How long had he known? She swung around and was immediately caught in his smoke-grey eyes.
He sent her a crooked smile, cocky and heartbreakingly unsure all at once. “Don’t leave me this time, Emmy. Stay.”
Her throat was hot and tight. The end of her nose began to sting. She pressed herself back against the door. “Why should I stay?”
He took a step toward her, closing the distance. “The Nightjar only ever steals things that have already been stolen, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “Not true. Because you stole my heart, Emmeline Danvers. It’s never belonged to anyoneelse since that night I danced with you at the Carltons’ masquerade.”
He took another step, and Emmy dragged in another shaky breath.
“And since you can’t give me my heart back, I want yours, in exchange. I promise I’ll guard it as well as I would my own. I will never bruise it or cause it to ache. I will love it forever.” His eyes bored into hers, burning and intense. “Why should you stay? Because if you go, I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life.”
Emmy could barely breathe. She hardly dared believe the sincerity in his expression.
He took a final step, and they were chest to chest. “I don’t know what qualities you think a husband of yours might need,” he said softly. “A knack for scaling tall buildings? The ability to argue convincingly in front of a judge? I’m not sure I have those. I can’t be your partner in crime. But I’d like to be your partner in life, if you’ll have me.”
With a sob, Emmy threw her arms around his waist and dropped her forehead onto his chest. His arms came around her, and she felt him kiss the top of her head and exhale as if in great relief. He spoke into the top of her hair.
“Don’t cry. Just say yes. Say yes because you love me. As much as I love you.”
She lifted her head. Tears pricked her eyes, but she managed a radiant smile. “That was amuchbetter proposal, Harland. And in light of your recent admissions, I’d like to amend my earlier answer. I accept.”
His smile was like a ray of sunshine breaking through a cloud. “Thank God.”
Emmy closed her eyes in blissful surrender as his mouth came crashing down on hers. Joy bloomed within her. She was home.
Epilogue
