He nods. “On the lips, of course, so not exactly the way you kissed Thorne. Today I want to participate, not watch. You understand now why this is an easy win. Kissing you back will automatically secure your win of the game.”
Dread. Hope. Dread. Hope. The two emotions flare in tandem, tangling in my stomach like a vile poison. I take a hesitant step back. “Are you trying to trick me?”
He holds up a hand. “I swear to you in a binding vow, if you kiss me right now, on the lips, with even a fraction of the passion you showed during our game yesterday, I will marry you. I’ll ensure our wedding proceeds as planned. We’ll leave at once to Sandalwood Manor to finish preparations for our nuptials. We’ll greet my father upon his return, and I’ll have him draft a new contract. It won’t require your father’s permission, only yours. We’ll have our wedding in the chapel six days from now, and you’ll have this marriage you’ve worked so hard for.”
I study his face, seeking any sign that he’s being disingenuous. “Why are you making this so easy? This game was your idea.”
“I told you, I’m bored of it. Besides, is it so hard to believe I’ve simply fallen for you?” He winks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Well, you’re right about that. I haven’t fallen for you, but I’m done playing. So come. Take the win you deserve.”
My body trembles with the weight of my heartbeat, my burden, my sacrifice, my hope. All I have to do is kiss him and my marriage to him is secure. The salvation of my family guaranteed, in every way from the sleeping spell to their debt and their reputation.
I planned this.
I forged the terms of this bargain.
I coerced Thorne into joining me in this plan.
Everything we’ve aimed for is within reach. All I have to do is sacrifice my heart, my hand, my future, and marry a man I don’t love. All I have to do is choose my parents. The family I yearned for my entire life.
All I have to do isnotchoose myself.
My needs.
My heart.
“No.” The word escapes my lips with almost violent fervor.
Monty tilts his head in a coy manner. “Why? You don’t want to marry me?”
“I don’t.”
He squints at me, his expression taunting. “Let me guess. You’re in love with someone else, aren’t you?”
The wordlovesends my heart skittering. I fold my arms over my chest as if that can hide the truth he’s trying to unearth. “My feelings are none of your business, for they don’t involve you.”
He throws his head back in a bark of laughter. His shoulders sink with something like relief. “Good girl,” he whispers.
I blink at him, taking in the sudden ease that melts over his posture. Where he normally seems lazy and careless—a contrived countenance—there’s something far less forced about it now. I narrow my eyes. “Is this another game?”
“The real game,” he says, rising from the divan. “The only one that mattered all along.”
“What are you talking about?”
Hands in his pockets, he saunters over to me. “I hope you realize I’ve been on your team all along.”
“I can’t imagine that’s true,” I say through my teeth.
He chuckles. “My methods may be cruel, and I apologize for that, but I think we can both admit they’re effective. Tell me, do I make a good matchmaker? I daresay I’ll be disowned and in need of a job once I tell my father I won’t be marrying you. Perhaps I should take up the matchmaking trade.”
His words pierce my mind, sending it reeling. Is he suggesting…
No, he couldn’t be.
He couldn’t have done all this to get me and Thorne to…
