Rachel was so mesmerized by Adam’s stare that it took her a moment to realize Vincent was trying to get her attention.
“Rachel, love, have you forgiven me — for shooting you?” he asked, and she looked over at him in exasperation.
“I’m not your love,” she muttered, but he acted as if he never heard her. She saw Adam roll his eyes and she tried not to laugh. She needed to speak with him again, though she wasn’t sure when she would have the opportunity to be alone with him, what with her father and Vincent watching her so closely. As nervous as she was about that conversation, she also had to know if he felt something — anything — for her, and what that might mean for their future.
“Did you bring all of your plans?” her father asked Adam, who nodded.
“I did,” he said, offering no more information.
“And your prototype?” her father pressed.
“Aye, sir.”
Adam might have come willingly with them, but he certainly didn’t seem pleased about it. Rachel wondered at the situation — why exactly her father had asked him to come with them, and why Adam had agreed. Her father typically didn’t take on any more partners than he had to. Sullivan Andrews basically ran the operation of the business, so her father needed him, but otherwise… the situation made her nervous, anyway. Her father was up to something.
Although she couldn’t say she wasn’t pleased Adam was coming back with them. Was that — perhaps — why he had agreed? A tiny flame of hope began to burn in her belly. Would he move to London to be with her? Or was he merely trying to find the key to his invention? She knew he was close to finding his answer. Perhaps this was what he had been waiting for, an opportunity to collaborate.
She sighed. So many questions. Would she ever find the answers?
They were about an hour away from Inverness when Rachel found her head lolling back against the seat. She hadn’t slept well the night before, her thoughts caught up in all that had happened, and now she was trying to fight the sleep that threatened to overtake her. She fluttered her eyes open as she heard her father and Vincent rise to join men playing cards at another table, and she heard Adam’s low voice tell them he would be there shortly after finishing his meal. For a moment she was alone, until she felt a hard thigh press into hers.
“Rachel?”
She smiled. Was she dreaming? She loved hearing her name like that roll off his lips. Her eyes sleepily drifted open, and she saw him next to her.
“Alone at last,” she murmured.
“Somewhat. Your father and Thompson are a few tables away, although we will not be overheard. I thought perhaps we should speak about what happened,” he said, casting his eyes downward.
Speak about what happened — the way he said it made it sound like it should never have occurred. Was that why he had been asking her to stay? Because he felt he had no choice, now that he had taken her innocence? She would not agree with that. She was an equal partner in what had transpired between them.
“You do not have to feel obligated to me for any reason,” she said softly, her fingers clutching the soft muslin of her dress, a pretty one that was also comfortable for travel. “What happened was… well, it was absolutely lovely and breathtaking, and more than I could have imagined. But that does not mean you should feel beholden to me.”
She looked up at him then, meeting his eyes, which showed no glimpse of whatever emotion he was feeling.
“You have to know that it was more to me than a simple bedding,” he said. “You must know that I would not take such an experience lightly. I hope you understand.”
She nodded, her heart beating as she was unsure of what to think, what to say. Suddenly it seemed harder to take a deep breath at the intensity of his gaze and the thought of what he might say next.
“Following this… foray into London, would you come home with me? Back to the Highlands? Do you think you could live there, with me and my family? I know it’s not the fancy city you’re used to. You would no longer have as many pretty things, or the opportunity to buy all you wanted at fashionable stores. But you would be valued. You would be — loved. My family, I mean, they have so much love to go around. You saw how much they enjoyed having you in their company. Peggy would be thrilled, would she not?”
He looked at her expectantly, and her mind raced. He had said she would be loved, true, but not once had he mentioned his own feelings. Would he love her? He had not even asked her to marry him, simply to come home with him.
“Would that mean that you and I….” she started shyly, not knowing how to ask.
“Aye,” he said. “You and I would be together. Husband and wife. Would you… consider it?”
“I… yes,” she said in a rush, feeling the smile break out on her face before she could help it. The words came of their own accord as she subconsciously overcame her fears because of her feelings for this man. “Yes!”
His usually solemn face now grinned back at her, and they sat there smiling at one another like a pair of fools until she finally had one thought to add.
“We should, however, first speak to my father,” she said.
“Your father?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I know he has other plans for me, with Vincent, to keep the company in the family, but he must understand by now that I would not be happy with him. I do not think it would be too great a request, as truly I am
