“You allow the world to believe you care for me,” she said. “You allow them to see something real between us.”
Nathaniel’s voice cooled.
“I do not give a damn what the world believes.”
“Then prove it.”
The words landed quietly. Her eyes searched his, and the challenge hung between them. For a moment Nathaniel simply stared at her.
Then, he crossed the distance between them in two strides. Margaret barely had time to inhale before his hand closed gently but firmly at the back of her neck and he pulled her toward him.
The kiss was nothing like the careful man he had tried to be.
It was fierce, immediate. Weeks of restraint broke loose all at once, and Margaret froze for a fraction of a second in shock. Then she kissed him back. Nathaniel felt the last of his composure dissolve as her fingers caught the front of his coat. He had imagined this moment more times than he would ever admit, yet the reality of it struck deeper than any restraint he had tried to maintain.
The kiss deepened, urgent with everything neither of them had allowed themselves to say. When he finally broke away, both of them were breathing harder. Nathaniel rested his forehead briefly against hers, his voice rough when he spoke.
“That,” he said quietly, “is exactly why I keep my distance.”
Margaret did not step away.
“Then perhaps,” she whispered, “distance was never the answer.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes for a moment, knowing with sudden clarity that whatever control he had tried to preserve between them was already gone.
For a long moment neither of them moved. Margaret still stood within the circle of his arms. Nathaniel forced himself to step back, not far, just enough that he could see her clearly again. Her cheeks were flushed, her breath still uneven, but her gaze did not drop. If anything, it steadied further, as though the moment had confirmed something she had already suspected.
“You see it, yes?” she said quietly.
Nathaniel ran a hand across the back of his neck, an old gesture of frustration.
“Yes,” he admitted.
“And yet you pretend it does not exist.”
“I pretend nothing.”
“You retreat.”
“Because I know where this leads.”
Margaret folded her arms lightly, not in defense but in thought.
“Where?”
“Complication.”
“That is a vague enemy.”
“It is a dangerous one.”
Silence lingered for a moment in the quiet hall. Nathaniel exhaled slowly. He wanted nothing more than to give in, but he could not bring himself to.
“I spent years ensuring that nothing could harm Eliza,” he said at last. “Every decision I made was calculated. It had to be.”
“And you succeeded.”
“Barely, and I have my careful nature to thank for that. When our scandal began, I had two choices. Allow it to destroy you… or marry you.”
