A sob caught her unawares, the sound so heart-wrenching she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle it.
But the tears wouldn’t stop. A floodgate had lifted, and Jane bent over at the waist as another harsh sob racked through her.
She was so lost to her own pain she wasn’t even startled when the stable doors opened again, and she barely had time to straighten and drop her hand from her mouth. She thought to ask what he was doing, but she couldn’t get the words out because he didn’t give her the chance. Luke took three long strides and pulled her into his arms with a rough tug.
“What—”
His lips crashed into hers with a shocking, searing…kiss.
She froze at the sudden onslaught of emotions, the passion that flared to life so quickly it left her mind blank, and all that was left was sensations.
He froze as well, as if waiting. He was breathing heavily when he pulled back, and the heat that had filled her at the feel of his lips on hers vanished as well.
He’d kissed her.
She felt him start to move away, and she reached for him, searching his face, but his eyes were dark with emotions she couldn’t name and she had no idea what to say or what that meant.
All she knew was that…she wanted to feel it again. Quite desperately. So she went up on tiptoe and shocked them both when she tentatively pressed her lips to his.
He groaned and his hands came to her waist, gripping her roughly as he held her close and she gave in to instinct and kissed him as he’d kissed her.
But then…she didn’t know what to do.
He must have sensed her insecurity, because he took over then, wrapping a supportive arm around her back as he tilted his head and gentled the kiss, tasting her and teasing her like they had all the time in the world.
But much as she may have wanted to lose herself in his arms, to pretend she hadn’t heard him talking to his grandfather, and the future wasn’t looking gray and bleak…
He eventually pulled back. His arms still held her tight as his gaze devoured her, raking over her features like he was trying to memorize her every freckle. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said.
The regret she saw in his eyes brought her fully back to reality as surely as a slap to the face. She pulled away and he released her, though he didn’t let her go entirely, his hands were still on her waist.
His gaze was deadly serious. “I will let you go, Jane. I will end this farce and I will make sure no harm comes to your reputation, but…I will not let this night end without saying what is in my heart.”
Her lips parted in surprise.
“I don’t want a business partnership, Jane. I want you. All of you, heart and soul.”
Her lungs constricted and she nearly choked on her inhale. She was hearing things. Surely, she was imagining this.
“I can’t walk away from you.” He glanced toward the door. “I tried, but I cannot. Not if there’s a chance…” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and the sight was nearly her undoing. The pain and frustration in his features was so sincere, so palpable…
He meant it.
“But…”
His eyes opened, and those blue eyes fixed on her.
“But you cannot mean that. I heard you,” she said, her tone pathetic and weak as she fought tears. “I heard you with your grandfather, Luke.”
His brows drew down in confusion.
She meant to back away further but somehow her fingers were clenching the wet fabric of his jacket and she was holding him close.Tell me I’m wrong.
Hope made her want to scream and cry and…and run. A watery sob bubbled up. “You were wrong, Luke. I am a coward,” she said. “Because I overheard you talking about our engagement like the business arrangement that it is, and I…I could not do it. Even though I knew I’d agreed to it, and I knew from the start what this was, and—”
“You heard me talking to my grandfather,” he said, understanding clear in his voice and the hint of amusement in his eyes.
“Please do not laugh at me,” she said.
