“The bills were supposed to come to me.”
“It was a mistake. And I’m glad. Because what I saw seriously irritated me.”
“I used the pocket money you have-”
“You were very conservative. The amount of money that you spent was laughable.”
Arabella’s jaw dropped. The money that she had spent on one gown alone was the budget she had for all the gowns she had owned as Miss Marriot.
“I wanted to rectify this discrepancy.”
“How exactly did you rectify that?”
A wide smile bloomed on his face. Arabella was taken aback by the rare appearance of that smile in the light of day. And then she looked at the box again.
She placed the napkin on the table and got up. She opened the big box only to find two gowns wrapped carefully in paper. She gave one glance at Gerald that encouraged her.
She opened the paper only to reveal a sapphire gown. The sunlight was catching on the silk, so deep, Arabella thought for a moment she was looking at the ocean. It was adorned with such fine silver embroidery that one would think it was made out of thin air. She was ready to put it aside when she noticed that the bodice was adorned with stones.
“Those are not real sapphires, are they?” Arabella asked in disbelief.
“Open the other one,” he said instead of an answer.
Slowly, she opened the paper from the other gown only to find a striking ruby-colored dress, delicate and adorned with red stones.
“Your Grace,” she stuttered, “please tell me these are not real rubies.”
“You seem to be insisting on questioning whether I would allow my Duchess to wear real stones.”
“But this must have cost-”
“Exactly what my Duchess deserves.”
Her cheeks inflamed and her eyes went back to the box. She could buy at least two middle-class houses with those dresses.
“Do you like the colors?” he asked almost timidly.
“They are beautiful.”
“I picked the blue to match your eyes and the red…” he looked at her with a hungry look. “…to match your lips.”
Arabella looked at the gowns and then back at him, only to find him fixated on her lips. He moved faster than she had anticipated. One arm snaked around her waist and pulled her to him, the other hand went behind her neck to keep her exactly where he needed her.
He took her lips slowly, almost lazily, but she could feel the barely contained passion underneath. It was the same fire she had experienced last night, ready to burn her in the broad daylight of their breakfast room.
He took three steps only to pin her against the wall, and he kissed her again. She could see the fire in his eyes, but his lips were soft, gentle. The fire had simmered down to a warm flame, equally devastating.
Arabella wrapped her arms around his neck and bathed in his warmth. She had yet to decide what ruined her the most, his fiery kisses or this tender one.
CHAPTER 20
Engagement Party
Not that he would ever enjoy such an event, but Gerald was less inclined to enjoy this particular one. He had been on edge almost the whole day and would have preferred it if his half-sister had chosen an engagement breakfast so he would be done with it by now. Instead, he was now waiting, after the sun had long since set, for that umbrella to come down so they could leave for the engagement party. That was when he heard the rustling of fabric at the top of the stairs.
He looked up and saw her in her sapphire gown. The one he had specifically ordered for her. It hugged her curves in the most delicious of ways, flowed down her body with elegance, and carried a whiff of something unbearably feminine that made his stomach clench. A strange rush came over him, seeing her wearing what he had chosen for her. She was his wife. She wore the wedding band and carried his name, and yet he still craved more ways to mark her.
She walked down the stairs, and Gerald felt his mouth water. The anxiety of the day just melted away. He was sure that the blue of the dress would match her eyes, but he hadn’t calculated how it would deepen the color of her eyes to a sea ready to drown him.
