However, for her family, she was determined to go through with this union and make the best of it. She could certainly do much worse.
Matthew continued to speak about their future together and how he planned to take over his father’s shop someday, and how they would have to live above the bakery. “Father promised me that we could have the bed and he would sleep elsewhere?—”
She winced at the idea of her father-in-law listening to them consummate their marriage night after night, but she smiled and nodded, as if she agreed to everything he promised and was glad to do so.
“I daresay your parents must be doing well for themselves if they have the gentry knocking at their door.”
At the change in topic, Meliah glanced at him. “Pardon?”
He nodded in front of them. “Do you know him? He appears to be walking this way.”
Meliah turned her head, and suddenly, everything around her faltered. Her steps came to an abrupt halt, as did the air in her lungs.
“Meliah?”
She heard Matthew calling her name, but she couldn’t seem to focus on anything but Lord Belmont as he strode purposefully toward her. Her hand covered her pounding heart as he stopped before them.
“I need to speak with you.” He barely spared a glance for Matthew and that didn’t settle well with her.
Coming to her senses, she motioned to her fiancée. “This is Matthew Wilde. My betrothed.”
She thought she heard the earl mutter, “Not if I have anything to say about it,” before he grasped her elbow and steered her in the direction they had just come from.
“Sir, I must protest?—!”
The earl turned back to him and said, “No, you won’t. You shall allow us to speak in private because I asked nicely. If you do that, I will make sure to offer a sizeable donation to your father’s bakery.”
Matthew’s eyes widened, and he practically backed down the street with a bow. “Of course, sir! Thank you very much!”
As Lord Belmont continued to steer her in the opposite direction, she found her anger outweighing her delight upon seeing him. “That was completely uncalled for! How dare you browbeat him into doing what you want? I had hoped that you had changed?—”
“I have,” he snipped. He glanced about and then steered her down an alley between two other shops. Pinning her against the brick wall with his body, he said, “I can’t abide the thought of you giving yourself to someone like that…boy.”
She gasped in outrage, but her breathing had begun to deepen. “Matthew is two and twenty, a year older than me, but with infinitely more manners than you! I cannot believe that you are considered a gentleman.He?—”
His mouth covered hers, and any further discussion was dismissed by the hot invasion of his kiss.
She was starting to fall down that dreaded abyss of carnal desire, but she forced herself to stop this madness. Putting her hands on his chest, she tried to push him away. She couldn’t make him budge at all, but at least he ceased his exploits.
“Do you still want to talk about him—or us?”
She narrowed her eyes. “There is nous.You wanted me to be your mistress and I cannot disrespect my parents like that. I refuse to do it.”
“I’m not here to ask you to consider that proposal any longer. I am here because I want you to accept another.”
Her eyes widened,and Elwood could tell she was confused. He reached out and traced a gentle line along her smooth jaw and then traced her full lower lip with his thumb.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
He grinned, knowing that she would be thrilled. “I want you to marry me.”
Again, there was that astonished hesitation, but when he expected her to throw her arms around him with enthusiasm, she shoved out of his embrace and turned on him with emerald fury shining out of her gaze. “You’re too late, Lord Belmont. I’ve already given my word to marry Matthew.”
This time, he was the one who was taken aback—until he realized that she was serious. “Meliah, you’re not thinking sensibly—” He reached for her, but she slid just out of reach.
“I most certainly am. My time with you was a whirlwind, a passion filled frenzy that would have never lasted. You told me yourself that you can’t abide affection, that sex is the only thing that matters to you?—”
“That was before I metyou.” Elwood was starting to get desperate. All the wonderful things he’d imagined might happen were starting to fade into oblivion. He gave a heavy exhale. “How can I prove to you that my adoration is genuine?”
