I sucked in a shocked breath, and a strange tingling sensation spread throughout my body.
“Why did you never tell me this?”
Pharis gave me a sad smile. “For starters, I didn’t know what to make of it. It was actually rather disconcerting. And my brother was hopelessly in love with you. For a long while there, it seemed like you felt the same for him.”
“He was so nice to me,” I explained. “And he took care of me. No one had ever done that—not since my mother anyway. But it wasn’t reallyloveI felt for him. Not like…”
For some reason, I felt my face flush. “Not likethis.”
Pharis kissed my overheated forehead.
“I know that—now. Back then I assumed you were smitten with him, like all women were.”
“I think you started to tell me about the matchmaker’s glamour in Havendor,” I said, remembering our interrupted bliss there.
“Yes, but Stellon came riding into the glen like a conquering hero, and once again, you only had eyes for him,” he said.
“That’s not true,” I said. “I had fallen for you by then, though I felt guilty and confused about it. And then things got so twisted.”
“‘Twisted’ is one word for it. Just before we left Stormcrest to come here and stop Stellon’s wedding, I started to tell you again.”
“But you chickened out and decided to push me away instead,” I pretended to scold him.
“I wastryingto do the right thing,” Pharis said, defending himself. “Trying to protect you from getting hurt.”
Then it was his turn to blush.
“And trying to protect myself,” he admitted. “I didn’t think I could stand to lose you—which seemed inevitable to me at the time—so I tried not to care.”
“You chose fear over faith. But it’s okay—we’re not doing that anymore,” I said.
Pharis leaned down so that his lips hovered just over mine.
“No.” He gave me a soft peck. “We are not.”
And then he kissed me again, a real one this time.
Lifting me onto my toes, he crushed me to him in a full-body embrace that promised a lifetime of passion. An eternity of love.
He broke the kiss, breathing heavily. “I had a plan for tonight. You are tempting me to throw it out the window, Wildcat.”
“I’m good either way,” I said, beaming up at him.
When I’d come downstairs tonight, I’d been hoping Pharis might propose to me.
Now I hardly cared about formalities like rings and engagement announcements and titles and balls.
All I wanted was to be with him forever. To never be apart again.
“I’m not,” Pharis said. “I want to do this. Ineedto do this. There’s something I need to ask you, and it can’t wait any longer.”
Taking my hand, he led me to a velvet-covered bench along one of the ballroom walls. As I sat on it, he knelt in front of me.
He withdrew a tiny silken sack from his pocket and began fumbling to get it open.
Tears came to my eyes when I saw how hard his hands were shaking.
Finally getting the ring out of the bag, Pharis held it up for me to see.
