“You want to secure your sisters future. I want a wife.” He lowered his voice, soft and warm. “We are attracted to each other. That’s more than many couples hope for.”
A good point.
Still . . .
He pressed a finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to speak. “Before you reject my offer, allow me to promise you, to give you my word that I will hand you and your sisters the life you deserve.”
Caroline’s heart sped up.
Dared she believe his words? They seemed too good, too favorable to be true. All her life, whenever she thought something good had happened disaster struck shortly after. Just look at this mess with the pocket watch. She could not make a decision out of desperation again.
“I am not your father, Caroline.” She met his gaze. Open. Honest. Sincere. Their intensity sent a shiver down her spine, disrupting her determination to stand her ground. Disrupting the very ground she stood on.
“I—”
His finger silenced her again. “Think about it first.”
Caroline swallowed back her objections.
He needn’t have silenced her. In the end, she did not have the power to say no. Neither did she have the courage to say yes.
***
Christ Above.
Caroline Harwood tasted like the sun and the moon and the stars, all packaged into one burst of starlight. Mason still reeled from the explosion of their kiss, his mind in complete chaos. However, now was not the time to lose his wits. He needed every damn one to convince Caroline to stay with him.
With his years of negotiation skills, he recognized the key to lure her into his life was through her sisters. She would do anything for them. And Mason hadn’t lied. He’d meant ever word. He would protect her family. He would protect her.
He couldn’t quite understand what insanity had come over him tonight. He didn’t care either. All that mattered was Caroline. Lord knows, he’d never met a woman so perilous to a man’s existence. She had all but snatched the reins of control from his fingers, and he had always been a man with very solid control over his emotions.
So be it.
Those clear eyes, green as country pastures, stared at him with wary hesitance, and Mason wanted to take her into his arms again.
Instead, he backed away.
“Gather your sisters and pack your things. It’s best if we leave within the hour.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
He hadn’t thought beyond his proposal, only that he couldn’t stand the thought of her and her sisters continuing to live in this house.
“You cannot tell me you do not suspect your father is not involved in this debacle. Until we get to the bottom of this matter it is best for you and your sisters to relocate to my residence. And those men from before, they may come back. I refuse to risk my future wife’s life and that of her sisters.”
“I did not agree to marry you!”
He smiled. “Yet.”
She stomped her foot as her glare turned feral. Mason almost laughed out loud. Absolutely glorious. He would not give her a chance to slip away from him. Not on his life. He wanted her in his house and in his bed. He also recognized her mistrust in men, especially men that held a title. He would change that.
“You are an arrogant rogue!”
“Only when it comes to you, Caroline.” He further urged, “Think about your sisters. You’d all be safer with me.”
She did not reply.
Patience, man.
