Alaina took a moment to collect herself and she clasped her hands together, afraid Christopher would see any emotion. Alaina forced her eyes to meet his, and she found a turbulent sea looking back at her. The orbs spoke of too many emotions to afford Alaina insights.
“My lord,” Alaina said, not keeping the edge from her voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Alaina, I…” Christopher started, and Alaina watched as he shifted his weight uncertainly, his hand scrubbing through his hair. “I fear I have…”
Alaina crossed her arms and strode toward the marquess. “You have come all this way and have nothing to say?”
“No, I do, it’s just…”
“Just what? You find me unwilling to run into your arms the moment you show up at my family’s home? After a week of no word from you? Not asking after even my father’s health?” Alaina railed, advancing on Christopher until she was within an arm’s length.
Christopher backed up a bit, his eyes wide.
“Still nothing to say?”
Christopher cleared his throat before he tried to continue once more. “I came here to say so many things, but right now, I am worried that none of it will matter, or that I may not even get all of the words out.”
Alaina was surprised to hear the sadness in Christopher’s voice, and although she did not want to let his behavior pass, she decided to at least let him speak. “Well, please continue. Nothing can be gained if you do not speak.”
Christopher sighed, “I have behaved abominably, and for that I am truly sorry. So many things were left unsaid and unfinished between us, and once I thought you had become engaged to Graham, I could not bear to be around you any longer.”
“Engaged?!” Alaina blurted.
It was Christopher’s turn to be angry, and he gritted out. “Please let me finish.”
With quick nod from Alaina, Christopher continued, “I had no intention of finding someone I felt drawn to this season, or any season in the foreseeable future. Graham’s friendship was the only thing that pulled me out into society, and I felt a duty to help him in his quest for a wife. And then I met you, and you were infuriating! And smart, and kind, and beautiful. I found myself torn between my duty to Graham and a woman I could not resist.”
A quick hand up from Christopher stilled Alaina once more. “Graham is my best friend, and I thought I would never let a woman get in the way of that friendship. Yet, at every turn, I found myself drawn to you, and I convinced myself that you only tolerated my presence. Why should you do anything else? You were being courted by the most eligible bachelor of the season, and I was just his friend. Even my attempts at wit ended awkwardly, or worse, in an argument. But I could not put you out of my mind, your eyes, ourconnection, even when I knew you belonged to another.”
Alaina looked at Christopher. His steel-blue eyes appeared stricken, as if he had bared his soul and now awaited her response, but she still had questions. “But at the ball in the country, I asked you if your thoughts had changed, and…”
“And I gave no response,” Christopher interrupted.
“No response is an answer of sorts!” Alaina countered, as she poked an accusatory finger into Christopher’s chest.
“Not when a swarm of people interrupted me!”
“Well?” came Alaina’s question, exasperation clear in her voice.
“Well what?” came Christopher’s question.
Alaina groaned and stepped away from Christopher as she paced the length of the room. “What is your answer on the matter of matrimony, you addlepated buffoon?!”
No words ushered forth from Christopher’s lips, but he placed himself in Alaina’s path, causing her to stop short. Alaina pushed against his chest, her efforts futile. “Get out of my way! You forget I have given you no quarter!”
Christopher chuckled, but did not move as he said, “I am afraid that your habit of showing me no mercy is what has me so enraptured. You have made me see that marriage would not be altogether awful, but rather pleasant, if I had to guess. I cannot promise that you will not loathe me after a courtship, but I can promise that should you not, I will make you my wife.”
“Ooohhh, you spout such beautiful words, but they are just words,” came Alaina’s response, but her voice had lost its edge. Christopher took a tentative step toward her and when she did not back away, he closed the distance between them completely, gently taking her in his arms.
Alaina reveled in the feeling where their bodies touched, the twisting in the pit of her stomach clouding her mind. Christopher’s voice came to her softly, almost a whisper. “If you do not wish to explore our compatibility, my dear, I will leave at once, and I am sorry for anyfrustrationI have caused.”
“And if I do want to explore… our compatibility, I mean,” came Alaina’s voice, a bit breathless.
Christopher smiled, and lowered his head until his lips were only inches from her own. “Then I shall have to indulge you.”
The couple remained as they were for a few moments, their breathing equally ragged.
Alaina was the first to break the silence. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
