Jason lowered himself into the chair opposite her. “I won’t pretend this is how I imagined any of this,” he began dryly.
Her eyes narrowed.
“But I would never force you to marry me,” he said quickly. “I want you to understand that. I…want you to have a choice. You can continue with your plan and go to Bath, or?—”
“Or what?” she asked coolly.
“Or you can marry me.”
Her brows shot straight up.
Jason huffed a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I…need to marry eventually,” he admitted. “And we already know there’s an attraction between us. At least I think there is.”
She blinked at him. “Yes,” she admitted tersely.
“I didn’t plan this,” he admitted quietly. “I’d be lying if I said I’d even had the thought before…well, before your family entered this room.” He smiled faintly.
Georgiana took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to marry me unwillingly.” Her voice shook. “I don’t want you to save me. And I certainly don’t want the ton to think you married me to save me.”
She stared at him then—really stared—until he finally realized what she must have been waiting for.
“I can’t promise I’ll be a good husband,” he said with a shaky laugh. “But I can promise I’ll try my best. And—at the risk of sounding arrogant—I can’t possibly be worse than Henderville.”
That startled a real smile out of her, and Jason felt something in his chest unclench at the sight of it.
“As for the ton,” he said, “I promise you I’ll make sure they think I married you because I wanted to.”
He pushed himself out of his chair and dropped to one knee and—because it felt right, because it felt necessary—reached for her hand.
Her breath hitched.
“Please,” he said softly. “Georgiana…marry me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jason didn’t breathe as he watched her.
Georgiana’s hand was still in his, her fingers slightly cool but steady enough that he thought—just maybe—she wasn’t going to run again.
Her gaze darted between his face and the door, then back to his face, as though weighing all her options one last time.
The silence stretched out between them, broken only by the faint ticking of the clock on the mantel.
And then…
“All right,” she murmured at last, her voice so quiet he almost didn’t catch it.
His chest loosened all at once, though he didn’t dare let it show. “You’re saying yes?” he asked carefully.
She let out a long breath and nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Yes,” she said more firmly. “But we must marry tonight. I will not go back home with my family.”
Jason closed his eyes for half a second, letting the tension drain from his shoulders before he rose to his feet and offered her his hand.
“Then let’s get this done,” he said. He wanted to add “before anyone comes to their senses,” but thought better of it.
Her mouth quirked, though she didn’t say anything. “Stay here,” he said. “I’ll send up a maid with some clothes and food while I take care of your family.”
A look of utter relief passed over her face, but Georgiana only nodded.
