“So, what’s on the agenda today?” he asked.
“I don’t feel up to much,” she said quietly, shouldersslouched.
Damn… now he felt awful for lashingout at her. But in truth, he had expected her to retaliate alittle. He hadn’t expected her to back down quite so easily. Gwenwas unlike Becky in that respect. He missed the spunky dormouse andthe way she wouldn’t take his shit. Gracie, well, she would havejust laughed and walked away. But as he looked at Gwen, herealized, she was different in a lot of ways, and her submissivepersonality was what he had found so appealing. It’s why theyjelled so well. It’s why he’d fallen for her in the first place.It’s what set her apart. He would miss her. He already missed her.Truth be told, he had already lost his heart to her. His only hopewas to get through the rest of this trip without losing his mind aswell.
“Nonsense,” he said, reaching for her itinerary in the bedsidedrawer. Flipping to the appropriate date, he read her neatlywritten notes. “Hampton Court… good lord…”
“We don’t have to go,” Gwen said with a sigh. “It’s too late inthe day anyway.”
“Come on.” He placed the folder back in the drawer and gave hernaked thigh a playful slap. “Get dressed, have your breakfast, andmeet me outside. We have a riverboat to catch.”
***
It was anothersunny day and everything should have been perfect, the scenicriverboat ride along the Thames to Hampton Court and the tour ofthe Tudor Palace was everything Gwen expected it to be, yet bothshe and Crispin were quiet and withdrawn through it all. To behonest, she wasn’t even sure what his problem was except maybe hewas feeling awkward after last night. She might have asked, but shewasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind. All she could thinkabout was what he had said that morning. It had thrown her. Shethought they had gotten closer, when in reality, it felt like theyhad grown apart.
For most ofthe day, Crispin avoided direct eye contact with her. It wasn’tuntil they stopped to read a plaque about Henry the Eighth did hefinally open his mouth.
“Selfish prick, I’d be lucky to have one wife. But I supposewhen you’re the King of England…” he snarked and walked away indisgust.
It wasn’tquite the place she wanted to start, but she was just glad he wasspeaking at all. Catching up to him, she took his hand. When hestopped and stared at her as if she were crossing a line, shesmiled sweetly and said, “Whoever you marry will be the luckyone.”
“Right, as if anyone would marry a nameless bastard like me.”Freeing himself of her grip, he turned and stalked away
“I would,” she whispered, but he was too far off to have heard.“Without hesitation.” With a sigh, she followed him all the wayback to the river to await the next boat.
On the wayback to London, they sat outside in the open section of the deck.Gwen purposely sat across from him, hoping for some form ofeye-contact. When all he did was turn his head to watch the passingscenery, she visibly deflated and was about ready to give up on anypossibilities of a lasting relationship with Crispin after theirreturn to Canada.
As Big Bencame into view, Gwen found herself in a state of melancholy. Thiswas their last night in London. They should be celebrating andtoasting the event with wine, dinner and a night of passionatelovemaking, yet here they were, acting as if it were the end of theworld.
When she nextturned her attention to Crispin, she found him looking at her withsuch sadness is his dove grey eyes. Unable to keep away, she got upand went to him. She wasn’t sure if he would reject her, but shewas done with doing nothing.
She shouldn’thave worried. The moment she got close enough, he caught her andbrought her close to stand between his knees, holding her by thehips as she swayed with the motion of the boat. Placing her hands,unafraid, on his shoulders, she then ran her fingers over his longwavy hair. He rested his head on her chest and let out a deep sigh.The words he spoke next, she would never forget.
“Coming to England was my last attempt to come to terms withthe idea of being alone for the rest of my life. But then youruined those plans with your eyes of blue-grey.” He paused and gavea great sigh. “You’ll leave me one day, just like the rest. Butunlike with the others, I won’t survive the loss. Because eventhough, I’ve fallen in the past, what I feel for you far outweighsanything I’ve ever felt. Gwen, you’ve broken down the last of mybarriers, seated yourself within my soul and tangled yourselfaround my heartstrings. When you go, you’ll only rip me apart. Iwon’t survive it, and it scares me to death.”
“Oh, Crispin.” She rested her head onto his, overwhelmed. Itwas then when she decided to put aside her own fears and say theonly thing she could. “Would it help you to know that I love you?”When he said nothing, yet clung tighter to her and held his breath,she said it again. “Unlike all those others, who’ve come and gone,I, Gwen Mathewson, am in love with you,” she declared. “Crispin, mylucky Clover.”
“Don’t toy with me,” he murmured into her chest.
“It’s the truth. I have fallen hopelessly in love with you. Ilove you with all my heart. So very, very much. Not just as afriend. Not just for the sex, even though, I must admit, the sex isspectacular.” She remembered to use his word and giggled when shefelt him smile, his hands tighten around her hips.
Just then theboat came to a stop, and Gwen wavered and landed on Crispin’s lap.Gazing at her with that all too familiar sexy smile, he said, “Wellthen, young miss, shall we make the most of our last night inLondon?”
“I thought you’d never ask!”
***
If Gwen hadfound Crispin affectionate before, she soon realized how much hehad actually been holding out on her. From the moment she told himshe loved him, he hadn’t stopped smiling. He hadn’t let go
