But those lives had changed, and so had they.
“I don’t need to marry for money anymore.” That was a simple fact.
“You don’t need to marry at all. You’ve already built a life for yourself. What I would offer you is…not an alternative but an added dimension. Me as your husband, children, a home of your own—if that’s what you want.” He tipped his head. “What do you want, Izzy?”
A good question. Love?
Strangely, she knew that had always been there, between them. Not always comfortable, yet always present, not spoken of but tacitly acknowledged by them both.
Like the fire in that kiss, it simply was. Had been and still was.
If she took the chance and embraced “them,” would things end differently this time?
They truly were standing together and looking down the same path after a ten years’ hiatus.
Still…
Did he truly imagine that she might reject his offer?
Yes, he did, for the very good reason that he was such a different man to the cocky, brashly confident, second-son-of-a-duke he’d been back then. Yet the man he was now suited the woman she was now far better than before.
Exasperated by her silence, he looked pointedly at her.
She drew breath, paused, then lightly grimaced. “In response to your question, the honest truth is I don’t know.”
She met his eyes. “Yes, I’m drawn to you. I always have been, and yes, the connection seems even stronger now than it was. We get on well—we understand each other, and despite the years apart, I feel closer to you as a person than I do to any other, man or woman.”
She hesitated, absorbing that.
After a moment, he prompted, “So?”
She refocused on his eyes, the same rich amber she’d never forgotten. “Is that enough on which to build a marriage? For us, as we are now, is that sufficient foundation to make a marriage work?”
He held her gaze for a long moment, then admitted, “I don’t think either of us can answer that. Who can see the future? But is itThe Crier—your role and responsibilities there—that makes you hesitate?”
The question forced her to confront and examine that issue. Eventually, she conceded, “To a point.” She trapped his gaze and held it. “If I were to agree to go forward, then whatever joint future we constructed, I would want to retain ownership ofThe Crier, but”—she tipped her head in acknowledgment—“there are ways to satisfy what I want from the position that would not involve the same time and personal effort that my current roles do.”
Gray nodded. “You’re the owner, the editor—”
“And the principal writer and contributor. However, given how established the paper has become and how sound the printing works is as a business, I could find others to take on all those roles bar that of owner. Stepping back from the other roles would see me no longer at the printing works on a daily basis.” She met his gaze. “If there were other demands on my time, I would have space in my days to meet them.”
The last sentence was a thinly veiled challenge. She wanted him to tell her what he wanted, what he wished for.
He held her gaze for several seconds, then said, “If I proposed and you accepted…I would prefer to live primarily in the country, with a town house in Mayfair for when we need to be here. Other than that, we both have lives and occupations we want to pursue, and I foresee us both supporting the other in those endeavors, our currently separate lives enriching the other’s, with us ultimately acting as a team in both spheres.” He paused, then without shifting his gaze from hers, went on. “And I would like to have children with you. However many we feel we can handle.”
That surprised Izzy. “You like children?” She hadn’t thought children would rate so highly on his list.
He grimaced. “I didn’t know I did, but having become acquainted with the Alverton brood, I’ve discovered I do. They’re”—he gestured—“engaging and entertaining. They remind me of my youth and all the good times I had.” Passion sparked in his eyes as his gaze returned to her face. “I want others to know and have what I did—to enjoy life as I did.”
There. That.
That was what was new, his drive to share the good things in life with others. She recognized the trait as one aspect of his character that powered the attraction she felt for him now, an almost-irresistible temptation to go forward with him and see where he went, how he developed.
He’d changed. For the better.
And she felt the tug of temptation ever more strongly.
Perhaps it truly was time to see what might be?
