For Love Alone (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 8)

Phillip nodded but didn’t have even the slightest interest in telling her about his investigation. Rising onto one elbow, he leaned over her until she had to lie back down again. He followed her down and caught her next question with a very thorough kiss.

When he eventually lifted his head, Phillip smiled down at her. ‘I won’t apologise for that.’

‘I didn’t ask you to,’ Carlotta replied, stroking his cheek with gentle fingers. ‘I won’t apologise for it either.’ She glanced around the empty bed chamber as if she expected him to pop up at any moment. ‘What have you done with Horace?’

‘He is walking to gaol for the murder of your mother. I am sorry, Carlotta.’

‘Don’t be sorry. My mother deserves to rest in peace knowing that her killer has been brought to justice. She didn’t deserve what he put her through and certainly didn’t deserve to have her life ended the way she did. He was horrible to her.’

‘And you,’ Phillip added.

Carlotta didn’t deny it.

‘Have your parents put you off marriage forever?’ he asked quietly.

Before he settled back down beside her, Phillip sat up and yanked his shirt over his head. Ignoring her startled look, he resettled himself on a part of the bed that wasn’t wet and gathered her into his arms.

‘Well?’ he prompted when she appeared more interested in his chest than his question.

Carlotta stared at the rippling muscles of his stomach with avid interest. It took her several moments to realise that he had just asked her something and was still waiting for her to answer. ‘What?’ she asked blankly.

‘Has witnessing what happened between your mother and father put you off marriage forever?’ he whispered.

‘No, but I certainly wouldn’t marry anybody who was anything like my father,’ she replied honestly.

‘What do you want from a husband?’ Phillip asked, sliding a teasing thumb across the curves of her bottom lip.

‘Someone who is kind, protective, nurturing. Someone who is happy to raise a family with me and enjoy the laughter children can bring. My father never did.’

Phillip pursed his lips. ‘And where do you see yourself sharing your life with your husband?’

‘I don’t know what I am going to be doing tomorrow much less next week, next year or in the future,’ she replied with a heavy sigh.

‘If you had a choice,’ Phillip prodded. ‘Where would you choose to live? Would it be in one of the smaller houses in the village, or in town where the shops are closer? Or would you prefer to stay here where it is quite isolated, but the village is still within walking distance?’

‘This house is wonderful, but it is far too large for just me to live in.’

‘Could you see yourself raising a family here?’

Carlotta frowned. ‘Look, what is this? This house is wonderful, but I cannot stay here. I know it no longer belongs to Henry, but it is the War Office’s property now.’

For the first time since he had left the bed earlier, Phillip began to relax against her. When Carlotta didn’t, he tugged her closer and pressed another kiss against her lips. ‘Oliver has made it clear to Horace that he has to compensate you, so you will have a lot of money.’ He grinned and took the opportunity to place another lingering kiss onto her parted lips and added: ‘You can afford to buy this house ten times over and would still walk away with change. Moreover, so can I.’

Carlotta rolled onto her side only to then realise that she was pressed intimately against him. When she tried to ease away, Phillip placed a large palm in the small of her back and stopped her from going anywhere. He then rolled onto his back and took her with him, so she was leaning over him. Thankfully, she didn’t try to move away. Instead, she leaned over him and smiled lovingly down at him.

‘You don’t need to move. The house must remain the property of the War Office until Oliver has managed to secure the return of your inheritance, but you don’t need to leave it in the meantime. As soon as Henry hands the deeds over they can be put into our names.’

Carlotta’s heart flipped. ‘Our names?’

‘Our investigation has now been concluded. The men are all going to head home to their families for a while so they can catch up with what has been going on while they have been away,’ Phillip explained.

‘Where do you call home?’ It galled Carlotta that she was lying so intimately with him yet knew so little about him.

‘I have a room in a lodging house in London,’ Phillip replied. He slid an interested look around the house. ‘I hardly ever use it because I rarely go to London now, especially over the last few months. I have been chasing Smidgley up and down this country instead.’

‘Are you going back to London at all?’ Carlotta tried to hide her concern.

‘Not to live. I need to go back to fetch my things.’