“Perhaps you would care to sit?”
He led her to a velvet bench situated in an alcove. Arranging her skirts, she peered up at him. From her angle, his dark masculinity was contrasted against the snowy plasterwork flowers that adorned the domed ceiling. With his inky, slicked-back hair and slashing brows, he looked like an angel fallen from that heavenly field.
Exciting and earthly…a bit dangerous.
“I am a self-made man, Miss Billings, in every respect. My mother died when I was six; I never knew my sire, who abandoned her shortly after they were married and before my birth.” His tone was devoid of emotion. “I’ve been making my own way in the world since I can recall. In my twenties, I started a business providing funds to those in need. One, in truth, not unlike your father’s bank. I have since grown and diversified that enterprise. I own properties throughout England as well as holdings in various industrial projects.” He paused. “Do you have any questions thus far?”
Um, only about a million?
She said the first thing that came to her mind.
“Was it difficult…being so alone?” Her heart ached for all the hardship he must have endured and from such a young age.
He dealt her a level stare. “Solitude has never been a problem for me, Miss Billings.”
“You are saying that you prefer that state?” she asked with a frown.
“I wouldn’t call it a preference, no. Merely a condition that I’ve come to accept.” His mouth ticked up at one corner. “Until you came along.”
Gabby’s hand fluttered to her bosom. “M-me?”
“You, Miss Billings.” His eyes were like a brazier, dark and smoldering. “I am five-and-thirty, my dear, and my thoughts have, of late, turned to the future. I hope I do not sound immodest when I say that I have achieved the majority of the goals I set forth for myself as a young man. I have wealth, property, and the freedom to live life on my own terms. What I do not have is someone to share it with. Someone with whom I can build a family. Someone who will give me sons to whom I may pass on my legacy.”
Her heart was beating so fast that she feared it might burst from her chest. It was as if he’d plucked her dreams out of her head, presenting them as his own.
“Since I have come to know you, Miss Billings, I’ve become convinced that you are the one I seek.” He studied her intently. “May I dare to presume that you might have a similar preference for me?”
“Oh, Mr. Garrity, I do. Ever so much,” she said in an aching whisper.
The slow curving of his sultan’s mouth touched upon the nerve of her deepest romantic yearnings.
“Before I ask you an important question, there is something else I must address,” he said.
“Anything,” she breathed. “Anything at all, sir.”
Although his expression didn’t change much, she saw the way his smile reached his eyes. It was subtle, faint lines crinkling around his dark gaze, but it was there. And she loved that she could make him smile.
I lovehim, she thought joyfully.
“It concerns the notion of love.”
Wariness smothered her giddy state. “What…what about it?”
“I know that the concept of a love match is much in fashion with modern young ladies. Too much novel reading, I daresay. But I am an old-fashioned fellow and, more to point, one who values honesty. If I am to wed, I would want there to be no illusions between me and my wife.”
“Illusions?” Gabby said in a small voice.
“I don’t have much use for sentiment, Miss Billings. Being a practical man, I believe that actions speak louder than poetry ever could. In sum, I have no use for romantic love.”
Her hopes deflated like a hot-air balloon that had suddenly run out of fuel. Her heart plummeting, she chastised herself for being stupid. For hoping that any man could ever fall in love with her. This was Adam Garrity, for goodness’ sake. He could have anybody he wanted. He’d only chosen her because…
You’re convenient. An heiress.
She forced the words out of her tight throat. “You’re proposing a marriage of convenience?”
“Christ, no.”
His adamant reply made her blink. And, dash it, hope once more. “Then what are you…?”
