She backed away, uncertain what his intentions were. “Are you angry, Sir Andrew?”
“Angry does not half describe it,” he said.
“But I swear I will not tell Olivia. I do not even know who the mother is.”
“I do, but we will get to that later.”
Her sparkling eyes widened. “Who?”
He advanced on her. “Later, Charity. For now I only want to know about what you said out there.” He gestured toward the great hall. “Did you mean it?”
She nodded. The calves of her legs hit Lord Edward’s desk and halted her backward progress. “Every word. I will never breathe a single syllable of anyone’s secret.”
“Not that, Charity,” he said in a low, throaty voice.
She licked her lips as he came closer. She could not catch her breath for the heat in his eyes. “You mean about the secrets I kept from myself?”
He nodded, bending her slightly backward to place his hands flat on the desk on either side of her. “Tell me,” he demanded.
“I…I thought I wanted Julius. I thought I loved him and that he loved me.” She wanted to look away, to preserve her modesty, her pride, but his scrutiny held her as firmly as his arms. “But that was an illusion—a lie I told myself so that I would not feel so alone.”
“What is real, Charity?”
He bent closer, his thighs pressing along hers, and she felt herself melting. Breathless, she managed to gasp, “You. You are real.”
He smiled and nuzzled her ear. “And what have you denied for the past five days?”
“That I want you,” she confessed. “But you knew that before I did.”
“A man likes to hear these things, Charity. Is there anything more?”
“I love you, Andrew MacGregor.” She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She’d never told a man that—not even Julius. Would Drew laugh at her? Say he’d only been teaching her a lesson?
He took a tiny box from the folds inside his harlequin tunic and set it on the desk. “No more meddling?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“And no more secrets?”
She thought of her bank account in London and the investments she had made. If she told him, would he want her for her fortune? Would she be just like Laura Tuxbury, always wondering if love or money had wooed her hand? But after all her fine principles and moral indignation on Olivia’s behalf, how could she lie to Drew now?
“Well, perhaps just one. You see—”
“Hush, sweet Charity. Whatever it is, ’twill make no difference. Just say you will be my wife and you will learn my secret.”
“Yes,” she sighed, tears filling her eyes. “Yes…” She felt the tiny box being pressed into her palm. She lifted the lid and found a band encrusted all around with dazzling diamonds nesting in black velvet. She gasped and tears obscured her vision. Drew’s secret had been a ring for her.
He took the ring and slipped it on her finger, then brought her hand to his lips and smiled. She had finally gotten everything she never knew she wanted.
His mouth descended to hers. He nibbled her lower lip until she opened hers. “I love you, sweet Charity, and I love your little secrets and your meddling ways.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3709-4
THE CHRISTMAS VISIT
Copyright © 2004 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
COMFORT AND JOY
Copyright © 2004 by Margaret Wilkins
LOVE AT FIRST STEP
Copyright © 2004 by Teresa S. Brisbin
A CHRISTMAS SECRET
Copyright © 2004 by Gail Ranstrom
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The Christmas Visit: Comfort and JoyLove at First StepA Christmas Secret Page 27
