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“Gillian, I would be glad to—”
“I have a proposal,” she blurted out, before she lost her nerve. This wasn’t how she’d planned to share her idea with him, but she would feel so much better after speaking bluntly.
“A proposal,” he repeated.
“Aye.” She nodded. “Indeed.”
His expression did not change.
“What is my favorite meal?” she asked.
Graeme looked at her oddly.
“Spiced pears,” she answered. “I adore cinnamon-spiced pears.”
“Gillian, I am glad to know it, but—”
“What is the one thing you love above all others?”
When his eyes softened, Gillian thought for one wild moment that he would say her name.
“My brother,” he replied instead. “I still do not—”
“We hardly know each other, Graeme. We were married so quickly.”
He waited.
“My proposal is that we get to know each other.”
He smiled. “I thought we had been doing so already.”
“Nay, Graeme. Not in that way. Getting to know each other’s pasts. And hopes and fears. Not”—she shrugged—“you know.”
Graeme smirked. “I won’t make you say it.”
“Thank you,” she said, belatedly realizing he teased her. “I believe we should make it our first priority. That we should get to know each other better without complicating our courtship.”
“Complicating?” Understanding dawned and his eyes widened with alarm. “Nay, not that. No.”
“Graeme, do you really think it wise for a man and woman to keep rushing into bed as they are learning about each other?”
Graeme calmed his mount by rubbing him on the head. “Certainly, ’tis better for a marriage to be consummated. If the couple’s marriage is arranged, they might not know each other at all.”
Oh, sometimes, she really did want to box his ears.
“Graeme?”
He heaved a sigh. “I will play along. Nay, a man and woman do not rush to each other’s beds as they are becoming acquainted.”
Satisfied, she continued. “So I propose we do not have relations for a fortnight and instead take the time to . . . talk.”
“Talk?”
“Aye, Graeme, talk.” She held her breath, already knowing his response. Her husband was appalled by the idea. And she’d so hoped it would help bring them closer together.
“Define relations?”
Hope sparked in her heart. Might he actually agree?
