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HALF-DRUGGED BY WILLIAM’Spassionate kisses, it took a while for his words to sink in and another for them to make sense. But the moment they did, Eloise froze. “What are you saying?”
He was still kissing a scandalous path across the edge of her décolletage, so Eloise placed her hand against his chest and gave him a nudge before stepping back. She looked into his hungry eyes and forced herself not to pull him back for another scalding caress.
His chest rose and fell in response to his rapid breaths. He blinked. Shook his head as if to clear his lust-infused brain. “You want to open a culinary school, right?”
“Yes,” she agreed with instinctual wariness.
“Well, this will help you do so quicker than you intended.” He spread his arms to indicate the space in which they stood. “You can use this house to teach anyone who’d like to learn how to cook.”
A nervous bit of laughter escaped her. “You cannot be serious.”
“I wasn’t sure precisely what you might need which is why it’s so vital you see it so you can tell me. I’ll convert whatever rooms in any manner you suggest and—”
“Why on earth would you do this?” The gesture was extraordinary – completely out of proportion when keeping in mind the length of time he’d known her.
“I don’t think you should have to wait ten years for your dream to come true.” He smiled down at her. “Not when I am in a position to help you realize it right away.”
She shook her head, incredulous. Her pulse was leaping with furious excitement. This had to mean he loved her. It had to mean he was willing to face all manner of condemnation in order to make her his. It could only mean that he would propose, and while she hadn’t allowed herself to hope for such an outcome, it seemed it was happening, just as Vincent had told her it would.
“What about your mother? I am still in her employ.”
“I know, I still need to discuss this with her, but I am certain she’ll understand once she learns why I did this.”
“And that is?” she dared to ask while her heart raced on, faster and faster until she feared it might fly from her breast.
“Because I need to have you in my life, Eloise. Because these past two weeks without you have been the most unbearable weeks of my life.”
No words of love yet, but that was all right. She could see the emotion shining in his eyes. “So I would be...”
“Able to fulfill your purpose.”
Every thought inside her head collapsed in a heap of disappointment. She’d expected him to say, my wife, or Mrs. William Townsbridge. “My purpose?”
“You desire to teach your culinary skills to others and so you shall. This may be my house, but it will also be a business, I suppose, which means we can both live here together without a single person raising an eyebrow. And that—” he clasped her hand and raised it to his lips for a kiss “—means you and I can finally be together, hidden away from prying eyes every evening, and able to enjoy each other’s company to the fullest.”
Eloise’s heart wilted. “I see.” She withdrew her hand and took a step sideways, deliberately adding distance. “So helping me open a culinary school is a bribe. Yes?”
He frowned. “No. It’s—”
“I will not be your mistress. I thought I made that perfectly clear. And yet you have crafted this elaborate plan in the hope of winning me over.”
“I’m giving you what you want.”
“Non,” she exploded while forcing back tears, “you are giving yourself whatyouwant.”
“Eloise.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We are both adults here. Please don’t pretend to deny what’s between us.”
“It’s a lovely house, William. I congratulate you on purchasing it, but I shall never live here with you.” Turning away, she started toward the door.
He grabbed her upper arm and spun her back to face him. “Do you prefer Matt? Is that it?”
Now she was truly confused. “What?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him too. Christ, you’re like a giddy young girl when you’re in his presence. I wonder if—”
“Arrêtes! This is enough. My head is starting to pain me.”
