Page 15 of Always the Lyon Tamer

But she could now see the answer on his face.

“I would never have guessed that about you,” she continued.

John leaned back in the armchair. “No one does—because I hide it well. Shy gentlemen do not get anywhere in life, and so I have had to work hard at ensuring I am never found out.”

It was a revelation Rebecca had never expected.John Lennox, shy! In truth, as shy as she was!

Was it possible—had they both been circling each other, wanting to speak but held back by their shyness?

“You say if I succeed, I win your hand. Good,” said John quietly. “I do not think I will ever have the courage to ask a woman to marry me, so if you…if you like me, then why not?”

It was not precisely the ringing endorsement she had hoped for, nor the declaration of love she had once believed she would receive.

But it was something. It was the only way to secure him, and her love only grew as she beheld him. Her lion, the man who had utterly stolen her heart—just as bashful as she was.

They were made for each other.

“Well then,” she said softly. “Let the game begin. If you are ready.”

Chapter Five

“If you areready.”

Ready?Ready for a game that would, in all likelihood, end with him becoming the future husband of the delectable woman who stood before him?

He had never been less ready—and yet the panic and regret he had assumed would tear through his heart had not appeared. If anything, quite the opposite. He felt calm, his breathing steady.

Once he was committed to this, and he was dancing along the edge of that commitment now, there was no going back.

It suggested there was a connection between them, something intangible but real.

His closely guarded secret had been laid out before her, and she had not considered him a fool for not being experienced.

He desperately wanted her.Every inch of him craved her, the way she looked at him so boldly, her smile, her laugh…

He was ready to leave behind his bachelor ways. A life with Titania had to be better than the solitary life he had.

“I am ready,” he said quietly.

“Excellent. Now we will—”

“But first, I would like to ask you a few questions,” John said.

Titania had evidently not been expecting that. She had started toward the chest of drawers but hesitated.

“I will not tell you my real name if that is what you are after,” she said with a dazzling smile. “That is something you may earn at the end of the game, of course.”

John nodded. He had wanted to ask, in truth, but had guessed she would not tell him. “I only wondered…playing this game may lead to us being very important to each other for a very long time. I wanted to know a little about you—not your name, obviously—before we began. Is that acceptable?”

He had attempted to pour a little of the Lennox Lion charm into the last sentence, and to his delight, he saw Titania’s cheeks pink.So, she was not immune to him, either.

“What is it you would like to know?” she said cautiously.

John considered for a moment. “’Tis the month of Valentine’s Day. If you were not here, where would you be?”

He had not considered it an impertinent question, and yet Titania hesitated before she replied. There was some sort of internal battle going on within her.

“I would be with my family, probably,” she said eventually, her gaze not entirely meeting his own. “I have no beau if that is what you are inquiring about.”