The Heart of a Duke(85)
“You are not. You are making the choice to risk yours, just as I am making the choice to risk mine. Besides, father said you borrowed his Manton revolver to show a friend who was interested in purchasing one. I know why you borrowed the gun, so it is good that I accompany you on your next trip.”
He looked at her as if she were speaking French, his tone a mixture of frustration and perplexity. “I would think most women would avoid a man with a gun. But what the devil does the Manton have to do with your accompanying me anywhere?”
“I happen to be a crack shot with those guns.”
Daniel looked surprised, and then he began to laugh.
She bristled. “I don’t see what is so funny.”
“No, of course not. There is nothing remotely funny about this situation.” He sobered, and before she knew what he was about, he had caught her hands and threaded his fingers through hers. He dipped to press their foreheads together. “You have to marry me. I cannot live without you.”
She smiled into his eyes. “I am considering it.”
“Still?”
“More seriously,” she conceded. “For the time being, I will pretend to be your fiancée while you visit Mr. Shaw’s sons.”
He groaned. “You have no mercy.”
“You need a lesson in trust.”
“I have told you everything. You got the better half of the bargain. I only got one kiss. Maybe we should make another bargain. For another kiss, I will let you accompany me to Mr. Shaw’s sons, with the cavalry following for protection—the cavalry being Brett and Robbie.”
“You’ve had more than enough kisses, but I can be generous.” She stood on tiptoes, and gave him a quick kiss.
He frowned. “I taught you better than that.”
“Yes, well, it is equal to your pathetic invitation to Shaw’s. To the fact that you do not want me with you. That you do not trust me—”
Daniel yanked her back into his arms, crushing her body to his, his mouth swooping down in a kiss that stole the rest of her sentence and all memory of whatever point she was trying to make. She could not find the will to resist or mind. After all, he kissed so very well. She kissed him back, using all he had taught her.
After a breathless span of time, he lifted his head, looking dazed. “That is much better. I do want you with me, all the time. Just alive, Julia, and out of danger.”
Me, too, her heart cried. She opened her mouth to voice the words, when a throat clearing had her trying to move away, but Daniel’s arm was like a steel cable encircling her waist.
“Hmph.”
Daniel barely glanced her father’s way, his eyes on her. “Lord Taunton, you are now my witness. I have ruined your daughter. Again. I think you should intercede and demand she marry me.”
She gasped and slapped her hands against Daniel’s chest, struggling to gain her release.
“Hmph. She doesn’t look too pleased about it. You haven’t gotten her to say yes yet?”
Daniel sighed and released her. “Well, you did mention her stubbornness. It is formidable. I’ll need a hatchet to chip away at it.”
“It looks to me that you have enough weapons at your disposal. I suggest you use them sparingly until you get your acceptance.” He gave Daniel a meaningful look.
“Father,” she gasped. “I cannot accept Daniel yet, for if you have forgotten, Edmund has yet to sever our betrothal. That is not for another week, so I have time before I must give my answer.”
Her father grinned affectionately. “Always one to remember the details. But Julia, after what I witnessed here, see that your answer is yes.”
She flushed. “I am . . . I am leaning toward it. He is persuasive.”
Daniel beamed. “I have moved up in her esteem. I am beginning to think courting is like a tide, if I keep battering away, the barriers will erode.”
“There will be no further battering under my roof. None. Persuading is fine, battering is not fine. Do I make myself clear?” Her father skewered Daniel with a narrow-eyed warning.
Daniel’s smile vanished and he straightened, but at Julia’s snort of laughter he winked.
“I saw that,” her father warned.
Daniel coughed, and struggled to adopt a more serious mien. “Right, no more battering. Absolutely. My apologies, sir.”
Her father cast Daniel another stern look, but the twitch to his lips undermined his glower. “Now then, Julia tells me that you were inquiring about the good doctor Reilly.”
Daniel exchanged a look with Julia. “Yes, sir, I was. He was my father’s physician for years, and cared for my brother and me until I moved away. I had formed a bond of sorts with him.”