“Because I am here to slay your every dragon.” He let her go just long enough to execute a silly bow, complete with a flourish of his arm. “At your service, my lady.”
“Would you cut it out?” But against her will, her lungs were threatening to burst with the urge to laugh at his antics. “Nothing has changed, Sebastian—”
“On the contrary,” he interjected. “Everything has changed.” His teasing tone ended and his gaze was utterly, terrifyingly serious. “Everything changed for me the moment you came into my life, Sally. And don’t try to tell me you don’t feel it too because I know that you do.”
“I-I—” she started.
“You cannot lie to me,” he said. “Not about this.”
She’d never seen him so serious. The sight made her swallow. There was no avoiding his fierce gaze, no hiding from those eyes that seemed to see so much and understand everything—at least when it came to her.
He was waiting for her to speak. Waiting for her to explain why this could not work. And for a moment she worked to remember. But then she heard her sisters’ laughter coming from inside, and somewhere in his study her father was having a smoke and dealing with memories that needed to be dealt with.
And here she was. Out here, being kissed into senselessness by a man who might as well belong to another species, his life and his world was so far removed from her own. She drew in a deep breath. “My family needs me.”
His scowl was fierce. “And you need me.”
Silence descended. She blinked as his words hit home. You need me. Oh sweet heavens, she did. How had that happened?
“That did not come out quite right,” he said with a sheepish smile. “What I meant was, we need each other. Lord knows that I feel as though you are a part of me, that when you are gone I have lost a part of myself. And I hope that you need me half as desperately as I need you.” There was a silent pause. “Otherwise I’ll feel rather pathetic,” he added.
She felt a wobbly smile pulling at her lips as she fought another wave of tears. “You just can’t stand silence, can you?”
“Hate it,” he said. “I hate to be bored even more. But more than all that, I hate the thought of living the rest of my life without you by my side. My partner. My companion.”
Her breath caught as image after image filled her mind of what that might be like. To have this man as her dearest friend, her heart, her love. To have days filled with laughter and interesting conversation, and a world filled with unspoken understanding.
“It sounds too good to be true,” she whispered.
“It does, doesn’t it?” he said with a smile. “But I think we could have it, you and I. I think we could be so very happy.” He took her hands in his and squeezed. “I want to make you happy, Sally. And just being near you brings me joy. Your presence in my life fills me with a sense of pride and purpose and the desire to be a good man. For you.”
“You already are a good man.”
“I could be better,” he said with a shrug that made her choke on laughter.
“But—”
“My family,” he cut her off. “I knew you’d get to that. I’ll have you know that I’ve asked my father and my brother for their blessing and they happily bestowed it.”
Her brows came down in confusion as all her talks with his father came back to her at once. “Truly?”
“Oh yes. I think my father is quite smitten with you himself.”
She smacked his arm. “Don’t speak of your father that way.”
He laughed, unapologetic. “He likes that you keep me in line, I’d bet. He likes that you’ve helped me realize that I’m ready to grow up. Not just in the military. But in everyday life. I needed a purpose, but you helped me to see that I have one. You helped me to understand...me.” He made a face. “That sounds absurdly mawkish, doesn’t it?”
She was too busy biting her lip and fighting back tears to protest but she shook her head with a sniff. Her mind was once more returning to her family, and to the secrets they held. “But...would your father still like me if he learned the truth about my family?”
“Sally, my love, the men in my family are not as fragile as you might believe.”
She met his gaze in silence.
He let out a huff of amusement. “All right, perhaps we’re not as strong as we’d like to think either.” She smothered a laugh and he squeezed her hands as he continued. “Which is why we need you. It’s why I need you.”
Oh her heart. It threatened to shatter at the sincerity and earnest pleading in his gaze. He was offering her everything she could ever possibly want. A home of her own, with a man who not only liked her just as she was, but who challenged her to be more. A man who fit her so perfectly it was as though he’d been made just for her. A miracle, if one believed in such things.
And Sally did believe in such things.
Her breath hitched again. Who was she to turn away such a blessing?
“My family, though, Sebastian—”
“I would never keep you from them,” he said in a rush. “I wish to be a part of your family as much as I hope you are a part of mine.”
“Yes, but they need me—”
“Oh stuff and nonsense!” Rebecca’s voice came down to them and Sally and Sebastian turned, lifting their heads to see Rebecca, Hattie, and even her father watching with unbridled amusement.
“Can’t a young lady have any privacy?” she muttered.
“I agree with Rebecca, for what it’s worth,” her father said. “I’ve told Minerva and I said it again to Abigail—I’ve raised you girls to be independent for a reason. The highest blessing for a parent
