Harlequin Desire September 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: ClaimedMaid for a MagnateOnly on His Terms
Page 47
Harrison grinned. “I’ve spoken to the director about you. Seeing as I’m sitting on the board now and all, I have some pull there.”
Gracie grinned back. “So then I guess I really can kiss that position goodbye, since you know the first thing I’d do is rally for art and music classes to be mandatory and for the uniforms to be eighty-sixed.”
Harrison’s grin grew broader. “You should be getting a call this week, actually. You could really shake things up there. Get ’em while they’re young and teach them about the stuff that’s really important. Not that I told the director that part. I just told her you’re exactly the kind of teacher that place needs. And hey, you’ll have an ally on the board.”
Gracie chuckled. “Thanks, Harrison.” Then she sobered. “Of course, that means I’ll be moving to New York. Will that be a problem? For us, I mean?”
Now his expression turned confused. “How could that possibly be a problem for us? We’d finally both be in the same place at the same time for more than a few days.”
She shrugged. “I know, but we haven’t—”
“Of course, apartments are crazy expensive in Manhattan,” he interjected. “Living there on a teacher’s salary would be impossible.”
Ah. So. Evidently, that “taking things to the next level” discussion was still on hold for a while, since anything she would be able to afford in New York was probably still going to land her in another state like Connecticut or New Jersey. Still, they’d at least be closer.
“Yeah, crazy expensive,” he reiterated. “So it would probably be better if you move in with me.”
Oh. Okay. So maybe they were going to talk about it?
“Or we could look for a new place together,” he continued.
Wow. Really going to talk about it. At least, they would be, if Gracie wanted to jump in. At the moment, though, she wasn’t sure what to say. Harrison clearly was, though.
“But you know,” he said, “the school where you’ll be working is pretty traditional. For now, anyway. They might frown on one of their kindergarten teachers living in sin.”
So then maybe they weren’t going to talk about it. Or take it to the next level. Never mind.
Harrison sighed with resignation. “So it might be best if you just marry me.”
Before Gracie could say a word—he’d just skipped every level there was!—he withdrew a small velvet box from inside his coat and opened it. Nestled inside was a diamond ring. An old diamond ring. A modest diamond ring. An absolutely beautiful diamond ring. It was probably about a third of a carat, mounted on a white gold, filigreed setting, and it was dazzling amid the falling snow.
“It was my grandmother’s,” he said. “I found it in one of the shoe boxes where my dad stowed stuff. The minute I saw it, I thought of you. If anyone could make this represent happy memories instead of sad ones, it’s you.”
That, finally, made Gracie break her silence. “You told me you finished going through your dad’s things back in October.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“So you’ve been thinking about giving me this since then?”
“No, I found this in August. But you were so busy with school and my dad’s estate, I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
Overwhelm her? He’d overwhelmed her the minute she saw him.
He smiled again, a little less certainly this time. “So what do you say, Gracie? Will you marry me? Or should I have asked you sooner?”
Well, he could have asked her sooner, she supposed. But it was never too late for something like this. Then again, with Harry’s money no longer a strain on her time, and with her starting a new job in a few months, and with Harrison just looking so gorgeous and being so wonderful...
“Your timing is perfect,” she said.
Just like you, she thought.
“Just like you,” he said.
“Just like us,” she amended.
He smiled at that. As he removed the ring from the box, Gracie tugged the glove off her left hand. And when he slipped it over her third finger, it was... Well, it was perfect, too.
“I love you, Gracie Sumner,” he said softly, pressing his forehead against hers.
“I love you, Harrison Sage,” she replied.
As the snow continued to swirl around them, and as he covered her mouth with his, Gracie couldn’t help thinking she’d been wrong about the clinic for which they’d just broken ground. It wasn’t the last recipient of all that Harry left behind. Because she’d just received the last—and best—part of that herself.
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Desire story.
You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks...everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!
Enjoy six new stories from Harlequin Desire every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
http://www.harlequin.com/harlequinexperience
ISBN-13: 9781460386767
Only on His Terms
Copyright © 2015 by Elizabeth Bevarly
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Looking for more scandals, more drama and more Desire?
Available now at one great price!
www.Harlequin.com
www.Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
www.Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks…everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!
6 new titles available every month.
www.Harlequin.com
www.Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
www.Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
ISBN-13: 9781460392765
Copyright © 2015 Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Claimed
Copyright © 2015 by Tracy L. Deebs-Elkenaney
Maid for a Magnate
Copyright © 2015 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Only on His Terms
Copyright © 2015 by Elizabeth Bevarly
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com