Anthony came around the side of the house, a wide grin on his face.He reached to shake Trent’s hand.“Congratulations, sir.”
“Thank you, Anthony.”
He raised a brow at Samantha.“Not as complicated as you thought?”
She chuckled.“Not complicated at all, it turns out.”
As they all sat down for dinner that evening, it wasn’t complicated.It was perfect.Maggie giggling beside her, and Trent smiling from across the table.The thing that had changed was that she no longer felt like her presence was a blemish.A stain, leaching onto a scene of pure innocence.Funny that she felt that way now that she’d done some verynotinnocent things with Trent.
Her cheeks warmed as she remembered what they’d done in the library that afternoon.Trent raised his brow.He knew, and it only made her blush more.
None of the men she’d been with had ever cared about her pleasure.They’d sometimes been angry if she didn’t feign pleasure, but never took the time to make it happen.Trent was special.And he was hers.
After Maggie went upstairs with Mrs.Baird, Trent came around the table and sat down next to her.He held out a hand, still offering and leaving the decision up to her, just as he had in the very beginning.
“Why are you like this?”she asked.
“Like what?”
“Kind, patient, respectful.”She placed her hand in his.“Even after everything that has happened between us, you still offer, but have no expectations for reciprocation.”
He shrugged.“Because of my mother, probably.Men put her through hell.”He squeezed her hand.“Not as much as you, I imagine.But more than she deserved.I swore I’d never be one of them.”He lifted her hand to his lips.
“You never could be.You’ll always be a perfect gentleman, Trent Gibson.”
“Even after the library?”He winked at her, and her stomach fluttered.“Let’s go upstairs and get changed.Maggie will be wanting her stories.”
When they entered Samantha’s room after Maggie was asleep, she led him to the chair and urged him to sit.She climbed on his lap and laid her head on his shoulder.“I was hoping we might talk for a bit.”
He rubbed his hand over her back and side.“What’s on your mind?”
“I want to go down to Raven Row and tell Simon in person.Would you mind?”
“We’ll all go.Ash wants us to marry down there.”
“Really?”She sat up and looked into his eyes.
He nodded.“He insists on it, but I’ll only agree to it if that’s what you want.”
“When did you talk to him about marrying me?”
He chuckled.“The night I made that embarrassment of a proposal.He knew that I was in danger of crossing lines and warned me that your brother would kill me if my intentions weren’t pure.”
“I’m sorry.”She kissed his cheek.“Simon was there.He saw me in my darkest moments.So he’s just trying to keep me safe.”
“As he should.”
She laid her head back on his shoulder.“A wedding in Raven Row would be perfect.All of the most important people in my life could attend.Simon, Daisy, Michael, everyone who was so good to me, even when I was incapable of really accepting it.”
“It won’t be hard for you to go back there?”
“I don’t believe so.”She opened the top button on his pajamas, and then the next.“Perhaps, while we’re down there, I’ll talk to Ella about some nightclothes that will be easier for you to remove.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
The train ride they took a week later was so much different than the one that had brought Samantha into his life.She was on the floor again with Maggie, but every few minutes she reached back and caressed his calf.She laughed and smiled.And this time, when Maggie got sleepy, she reached for Samantha and climbed into her arms.
Samantha got up onto the seat and relaxed into his embrace, settling Maggie against them both and resting her head on his shoulder.Brennan smiled his approval from the other side of the compartment.
