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“Even to your family home?” she asked.

His smile was back. “There’s no place for me at Oak Park Manor. Not with the years my father’s spent grooming Richard to inherit.”

The mention of his older brother tugged at her curiosity. He spoke of his family so rarely, she hardly thought of him as having a family. But now was not the time to probe for more information. They had an engagement to negotiate.

“I also think we should agree to both continue our work,” she said.

“That’s easy,” he said. “I’ll never stand in the way of what you love.”

She swallowed. Now for the hard part.

“And what of the particulars?”

His brows shot up. “Particulars?”

“Yes,” she said, waving her hand helplessly in front of her. All she was managing to do was churn awkwardness through the air.

“What particulars would those be?” he asked.

“We’d live together.”

“Yes?”

“And we’d share a home . . .” She let her words trail off.

“And?”

Her eyes narrowed as a fierce blush rushed to her cheeks.

“You’re the most wretched man. Are you really going to make me spell this out for you?”

“Given how amusing it is to watch you try, yes,” he said.

“Will we share a bed?”

The words came out in a rush, and she had to fight the urge to squirm in her seat as he gazed at her.

“I thought young ladies weren’t supposed to be aware of such things,” he said after a moment.

She rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just say I’m not very good at rules?”

He conceded with a tilt of his head.

“Before we discuss that matter, there’s one thing I wish to know,” he said. “Is there anyone you’d rather be married to?”

“No,” she said immediately.

“Anyone you love?” he pushed. “Because if there is, I don’t want to be the man who stands in your way.”

“There’s no one,” she said.

After a pause she asked, “And you?”

She should know this, and yet they’d never spoken of any of the ladies who threw him sly glances as he walked across a ballroom. The subject just hadn’t come up, almost as though Gavin was oblivious to them.

Then again, not wanting to delve into her proposals, she hadn’t exactly forced the issue.

“My opportunity for love came and went a long time ago,” he said. “It’s in the past.”