But…
“What about ye?” he asked gruffly, unwilling to drop her hand. “What wouldyedo if ye didnae have yer art to study?”
“I will always have art to study,” she admitted with a sigh, glancing up at him. “We are never going to run out of art, are we? But you mean, were I notallowedto study it formally?” A little shrug. “I suppose, like every other duke’s daughter in history, I would be forced to learn how to run an estate for my future husband and hope that I did not die an old maid.”
“And…” Bull cleared his throat. “What if yer future husband did not have an estate?”
Rose didn’t hesitate. “Then I should have to find an estate for us to share. I cannot allow all this estate-running education to go to waste!”
Her reply was so unexpected that Bull’s laughter burst from his lips before he could stop it, and he found himself smiling down at her. “Ye could do it, Rose. I believe ye.”
That smile—the smile which told him he’d said the right thing—made him feel like ahero.
“Well?” she whispered, squeezing his fingers. “Think about it, yes?”
His heart skipped a beat. “Think about what? Ye cheating yer way into a card game and winning an estate?”
Her grin grew. “No, you cockwangling dobber! I mean, what would you do if you no longer accepted cases.”
“I suppose I would have to design clothes.” The answer slipped from his mouth before he could really think about it, but judging from how wide her eyes grew, she hadn’t expected it either. He shrugged and continued. “It was what I wanted to do as a lad, ye ken, but I’mgoodat detective work.”
“No,” Rose breathed, swaying toward him. “No, Bull, you aregoodat making friends. You are good at caring. You are good at noticing people.Thathas made you a good detective. And…” She placed her free hand on his chest. “And that is what will make you successful at anything you choose, whether it be detective work, or clothing design, or managing an estate.”
An estate he would never own.
Still, her surety warmed him. Nay, not her surety, herfaithin him. That, and the wholetouchingthing. That warmed the hell out of him.
Unbidden, his gaze dropped to her chest. There, disappearing beneath the frothy lace of her collar, was a ribbon she hadn’t been wearing yesterday. A green ribbon, the fabric rich and well made.
Perhaps it was the intimacy of the moment, or what they’d shared these last few days, or an instinctive need to be close. Whatever it was, Bull found himself reaching for it.
He slid his fingertip beneath that green ribbon, along her skin, and saw the way she shivered. Saw the way her lips parted. Saw the way her pupils dilated.
She wanted him. He wanted her.
He was already leaning down to take what was his when he slid the soft ribbon up just enough to see what dangled from it: the ring he’d given her, gold and emerald sparkling, hidden beneath her blouse.
Then his lips claimed hers and his fingers curled around that ribbon, pulling her even closer.
His Rose gave a whimper and surged against him, closing her fingers around his lapels as if she could anchor herself to him always. He remembered the way she’d whimpered against him, how she’d grasped his hips as an anchor, remembered the way her arousal had smelled so sweet…and tried to give her all of that.
Tried to give hereverything.
His tongue teased hers, his teeth caught her lips, she moaned against his mouth and he swallowed it down, making it a part of him the wayshewas a part of him.Completely.
I love ye, Rose.
The realization slammed into him all at once and Bull stiffened, clutching her to him.
She, of course, thought nothing of it, and her lips moved along his jaw as his mind stuttered.
He—he loved her.
Ofcoursehe loved her.
He was standing here in her parents’ breakfast room, kissing her furiously and knowing there was no future for them…of course he loved her. Bull groaned and sank into the forbidden kiss once more.
This wasn’t a role. This wasn’t an act, a ruse.
