Daniel narrowed his eyes at them as looked back and forth between the pair making Charlie wonder what exactly Jaxon had said to him.
“How are you this morning, Charlie?
“Tired mostly. I didn’t get much sleep last night. Jaxon kept me up nearly all night.”
Jaxon choked on his coffee. When his coughing subsided, Daniel stood up and began hitting the hilt of his knife on the table until the crew turned to him and quieted.
“The captain has just informed me that he and Charlie have decided to wed at the earliest possible opportunity. Keep a lively watch for sails so that they do not have to wait ‘til we get back to shore.”
“Three cheers!” someone shouted. “Hip, hip…”
“Hoorah!” the men cheered in unison.
“Hip, hip….”
“Hoorah!”
“Hip, hip….”
“Hoorah!”
Jaxon’s look shot daggers at Daniel. Reluctantly, he stood up and pulled Charlie to her feet as well.
“Thank you,” Jax began. “Charlie and I are extremely pleased to have you be the first to know of our future marriage. No one is more surprised than we are at this turn of events. When The Dragon’s Lair set sail to seek our fortunes as privateers, this was certainly not the treasure I was seeking. But I would not trade this woman for all the riches in the world.
“However, despite what my brother has said,” Jax continued. “Charlie has expressed her wishes to not be wed while wearing breeches, so we would prefer to wait until we are ashore to get married. You are all invited to the nuptials.”
Jaxon turned to Charlie. He wore an uneasy grin. His eyebrows lifted as he lowered his mouth to hers. His kiss was lingering and deep and Charlie couldn’t help, but respond as whoops from the crew faded from her ears and were replaced by the sound of her blood rushing through her veins. She was unaware that anyone was still in the room as her breathing increased. Her fingers wove into his hair preventing him from breaking the embrace.
“Leave off,” Daniel said into his brother’s ear. “Save some for the wedding night.”
Jaxon took Charlie’s wrist and gently pulled it away until he could break the embrace. Her eyes fluttered open, languidly. Then suddenly, remembering where they were, her eyes darted around the room and she quickly sat down and turned beet red.
During their meal, Charlie fixed a smile on her face she didn’t feel, knowing they were the topic of many conversations. She had no idea what just happened, but was stunned out of her gourd over the whole matter. Instinctively, she knew Jaxon was as taken off guard as she and that Daniel was to blame for this. Jaxon and Charlie only ate half of the food on their plates before getting up to leave.
“In my quarters,” Jaxon gritted out in Daniel’s ear as they left the table.
Jax paced the floor of his cabin. “Charlie, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know he would do that. This is my fault. I just thought…. Damn.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. Jaxon took her by the hand and led her to the bunk. It was the only place they could sit together without moving the chairs around.
“This is not the way I wanted to do this, but Daniel has forced my hand. Charlie, will you marry me?”
“You’re asking me to marry you because Daniel told everyone we were getting married?”
“I’m asking you now because of that. But I had already decided to ask although I intended to wait a more respectable amount of time.”
Charlie paled.
“Do you want time to think about it?” Jaxon asked, worried her pallor was an indication of her answer.
“No,” she said. “I don’t need to think about it.” Charlie couldn’t look at him. She kept her eyes on their clasped hands. She felt the tears spilling over her lashes and the lump in her throat.
“Oh, baby. Don’t cry. I’m sorry this isn’t a romantic proposal with flowers and a long talk with your father.”
She couldn’t help it. Charlie had always assumed she would be alone her whole life, sitting in the captain’s quarters of the Arcadia, pretending to be someone she wasn’t. There was no hope of ever finding love. Charlie frowned. He never said he loved her.
“Do you think you might grow to love me?” she asked.
Jaxon silently cursed himself when he realized he had not told her how he felt. People married for all sorts of reasons, but a love match was what every woman wanted. He raised her face to meet his.
“Charlie, I have been in love with you since the moment I saw you in my bed wrapped in the bed sheet. Or maybe it was when you didn’t back down even though you were nearly naked. And when we kissed the first time, I knew I would ask you to marry me.”