She pointed upward, wanting him to look anywhere but at her. “Cupid appears to be the same.” As she’d hoped, he looked to the ceiling.
A frown flitted about his brow. “The gods never change, nor does the pain, it would seem.” He brought his gaze back to her. “Why did you come here?”
She shrugged, not having an explanation. “It’s more interesting than the other path.”
He leaned against a column and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I’m sure the pond would be equally as overgrown. My brother only kept the paths cleared. He never used them. There may be quite a bit of wildlife about the pond now. I’ll have to have the staff work on these areas as well.”
She didn’t like the idea of such beauty being trimmed back. “I see no reason to disturb such natural beauty, do you?”
“Were you not the woman who complained about a vine growing on the bench in the garden at Silver Meadows one summer?” His brows had risen with his question.
Her cheeks heated at the memory. Not because she felt her comments at the time were inappropriate but because of the reason for making them, which were to take his gaze from her mouth. Licking her lips, she turned toward the vine closest to her and touched a small leaf. “I was not so concerned with the pretty vine as I was of your intentions.”
A soft chuckle floated to her across the small space. “You were observant even then and quite right to turn my attention to something else.”
The old feelings of love and caring seemed to grasp onto his words and floated to her with his voice. She couldn’t resist her curiosity to look at him. What she saw was the old Marcus, who flirted and loved with as much energy as he took a jump over a hedge. He was here and yet he wasn’t. “Will you ever tell me what happened to you?”
His countenance immediately hardened. “It is far better not to know.”
Frustrated with the cat and mouse game they seemed to be playing, she set her hands on her hips. “Well, not knowing is far worse. All I know is the man I loved left with promises of marrying me, then died, then came back and went into hiding specifically to keep me from knowing he was alive. You do not want to know what reasons I have in my head. I’m hoping they are far worse than the truth.”
He didn’t respond. Remaining perfectly still, he just stared at her with no feeling, as if he were a marble statue.
But he wasn’t. He was flesh and blood and completely infuriating. She threw her arms upward. “Fine. I’ll think the worst.” She tried to tamp down her anger. She never had a problem remaining calm and proper, but this was too close to her heart. Actually, itwasher heart. She lifted her left hand and poked it with her right index finger. “I’m guessing you fell in love with someone else and have a child you don’t want me to know about.”
His eyes widened.
“No?” She poked her hand again. “Then it must be that you committed a crime and you were hiding from me and everyone to avoid detection until you could kill the one person who witnessed it.”
His brows furrowed.
“Fine, it’s not that.” She poked her hand and this time held her finger. “Then it must be that you have been with so many women that you can’t stomach the thought of being with me too.”
All expression left his face.
Drat it, she was close. Her heart skipped a beat. “So, it’s just me you cannot bear to be near.” The sting of tears just made her angrier. “This pretend betrothal must feel like hell to you.”
He moved so fast across the space that she sucked in her breath as he clasped her shoulders.
“You can think anything of me, even the direst of deeds, but never think that.” His gray eyes appeared darker and the truth of his words caused her to shiver.
Stubbornly, she ignored his claim. “Then you must love another.”
“Damn it, Mariel, will you listen to me?”
“I’ve been listening, but I don’t hear anything.”
He took a deep breath before one hand moved from her shoulder to cup her face. “I can never love another.”
His whispered words made no sense. If he loved her then why hide? She shook her head.
“You must believe me.” He lowered his head and his lips brushed across hers like the sweet kisses she remembered.
It had been so long, and she was so confused, she ignored her racing questions and latched on to the feel of his lips. Raising on her toes, she kissed him in return.
“Mariel.” He whispered against her lips before he took her in his arms. His lips moved across hers, begging entrance to her mouth.
Unable to deny him, she let her eyes close and opened to him, tasting him again for the first time in four long years. Her senses reeled with memories even as her heart beat for him. As his tongue touched hers, her knees weakened and she grasped his arms.
