She turned back to look at him. Her blue-gray eyes were cooler now.
“No… I don’t know,” she whispered. “I know you are honorable, your actions show me this, but I am a tutor and far below you and your cousins. I…” Her words fell away. “I have insulted you. I can see it in your eyes.”
“No.” He sighed. “I want you as my wife, Ruby, not my mistress.”
She smiled.
“Do you know that when you smile, your face comes alive?” He touched her cheek. “That when I see it, I want to smile.”
“Forrest.” She leaned in to kiss him. “How is any of this possible?”
“Let me clear a few things up for you.”
He rose with her. She pulled on her nightdress and he his breeches and shirt. When they were done, he led her to a chair and pulled her down into his lap.
“I am not Gabe or the others. I don’t have to wed for my title. I am simply Mr. Forrest Howarth. Father of Ella, and the man who loves you. I want you as my wife, end of story. We will find a house together and live there with my daughter and your brother.”
The tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, but she did not brush them aside.
“I love my brother—”
“As you should.” He used the cuff of his shirt to blot her tears.
“But I never thought to love like this. To love a man with all my heart. To feel full inside from that love. Warm and safe.”
“Well, you better get used to it, because I will love you like that forever.”
“I want to help you find this man who is taking these women, Forrest.”
“No.”
“I could help.”
“Absolutely not.”
She huffed out a breath. “My father was a managing dictator, Forrest.”
He snorted. “I will not be that, my love, but I will also not allow you to walk into danger again. After all, you are a thief and have already listened at the doors in this household, not to mention rifling through desks.”
She giggled. “It is not funny, you know.”
“I know. But it is in the past. Now we walk together into the future.”
“I like that.”
“Me too.”
He held her in his arms as they talked about everything and anything, and when she drew quiet, Forrest knew she slept. Rising, he carried her to the bed and lowered her into it. Kissing her cheek, he then left the room.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Ruby woke, washed and dressed, and tried to wipe the smile off her face. The problem was every time she tried, it reappeared.
Knocking on her brother’s door she found his room empty. She did not panic. He was safe here, and always would be now that Forrest was in their lives.
Forrest. The man who loved her. It almost seemed impossible to believe.
She skipped down the stairs.
