She crossed her arms and examined him, and he studiously avoided thoughts of how adorable she looked with his hat pressed down low over her brow.
“Are you planning on wooing other women during the week that we’re here?”
The question caught him completely off guard, and he choked and coughed with surprise. “No.”
“And, in the event that something even marginally dangerous were to occur, would you do your best to protect me?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in that answer.
“Does it bother you that I can’t use magic? That I may never be able to again? Will that make you walk away?”
Casper frowned. “No. Should it?”
Sienna gave a sharp nod, as if coming to a decision. “Then you’ll do. I agreed to marry a man who, it turned out, was willing to do a lot less. You’re already far better than he was.”
He was having trouble following her line of logic. “I’ll do?”
“Yes. If the lie is what bothers you, then make it real.”
Chapter eight
A Proposal
Sienna
Sienna could hardly believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. Casper couldn’t either, based on the look on his face.
Did I really propose to a stranger? Devri did say that I needed to move past Erik, but I don’t think this is exactly what she had in mind…
The captain had finally picked his jaw up off the ground and was looking at her with the same brooding frown he had worn almost all morning. Though it would intimidate most people, she had quickly seen that he hid a caring, honorable heart behind the grim visage. It was evident in the way he had insisted on helping her in the kitchen, even though his hands were ascold as ice, and she could see the exhaustion weighing on his shoulders. She had experienced it in the courteous tone of their conversation, in the polite way he had held her chair out for her when they sat. She had seen the brief flashes of warmth and humor that he had sent Jem’s way during their meal and had strangely found herself wishing that she could be the recipient of that look.
And even now, he was worried about faking an engagement because it was alie—not because he was embarrassed or offended or inconvenienced by it all, but because it would require deceiving fae that he would likely never see again.
“Allow me to ensure that I am following correctly,” he began. His voice was low and rich, and she was sure that it would be a delightful bass if he sang. “You want to enter into a real engagement? With me?”
She shrugged, pretending to be much more nonchalant than she actually was. “Why not?”
“Why not?” Casper’s frown deepened. The wind tousled his blonde hair, which was just long enough to hang down over the top of his ears. He was shorter than Erik was, but broader, and his build was stocky rather than graceful. His bright blue eyes searched her face, as if somehow tracing the freckles on her cheeks would somehow provide him with an answer. “Why not? Because for all you know, I could be a hardened criminal. Because I’m leaving in a week. Because an engagement is a commitment that should be taken seriously.”
A sense of sureness washed over her at his words, and Sienna allowed herself to smile. She tilted her head. “Are you a hardened criminal?”
He shoved exasperated hands through his hair. “You can’t ask me that! You shouldn’t trust anything I tell you about myself.”
“Hmm. Well then, what would Jem’s dear old Mormor say about you?”
Jem’s voice piped up from the window in the wall just behind them. “She would say, ‘Often the most priceless jewels are hidden in the roughest stones, and the most tender of hearts behind the prickliest thorns.’”
Sienna pressed her lips together hard to stifle her laughter.
Casper closed his eyes and spoke through clenched teeth. “Jem?”
“Casper?” Jem’s voice was far too innocent.
“Go. Away.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Sienna waited a moment before shrugging. “I can handle prickly.”
