To Bed a Beauty (Courtship Wars 2)

The gentlemen all rose when the ladies did. When Arabella gave her husband a lig

ht kiss on the cheek, Marcus brought her fingers to his lips and held them there for much longer than was proper. The searingly tender look he shared with his bride would have made Drew envious but for his own romance with Roslyn.

But clearly the first flush of love had not worn off for the newlyweds. Arabella was positively glowing.

“Matrimony obviously agrees with you, my lady,” Drew observed as he gave her a brief bow.

She laughed. “It does indeed. It is beyond wonderful-which I hope you discover for yourself, your grace. I am still amazed that you and my sister are betrothed.”

Drew shot Roslyn a tender glance. “I am amazed that I had the remarkable good sense to fall in love with her.”

At the warm, radiant smile Roslyn sent him in response, his heartbeat accelerated and he found himself staring at her, immobilized by the profound affection flowing through him. The emotion he felt for her stole his breath and left him feeling ridiculously weak and powerful at the same time.

When she had left the drawing room with her sister, Drew stood shaking his head in silent amusement. This was what love did to a man…made him a witless, drooling hound panting at the feet of his loved one in his eagerness to win her smile.

“More ale, Drew?” Marcus asked, interrupting his wayward thoughts.

“Please,” Drew replied, turning back to his friends.

Marcus refilled their mugs from a pitcher as the three of them resumed their seats.

“So, old chap,” he said to Drew. “Less than three weeks of freedom left.”

“Just so.” The banns had been called the previous Sunday for the first time, so it was not long before the wedding. Yet Drew could scarcely wait until the day he could make Roslyn his wife.

“I’m eager to be done with it,” he admitted. “I can now understand, Marcus, why you were so impatient to marry Arabella.”

Marcus eyed him with good-humored skepticism. “I must say you made an amazing transformation in a very short time. Barely a month ago you were offering me condolences on the demise of my bachelorhood.”

“Yes, my fine fellow,” Heath prodded jovially, “whatever happened to your vow that you would never be ensnared by any female?”

“I fell in love,” Drew replied simply.

“But you don’t even believe in love.”

“I suppose I will have to eat my words. I am well and truly caught now and wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Both his friends looked vastly amused that he had succumbed so easily when he’d been so adamantly set against matrimony.

“You will recall,” Marcus remarked with a smug grin, “that I predicted your cynicism would vanish if you were fortunate enough to meet the right woman. Funny thing about love-it changes everything.”

Drew nodded. “Turns a man inside out. It’s brought out feelings in me I didn’t even know I could have.”

He drank a long swallow of ale, marveling at the change in himself. He could scarcely believe that one woman could make such a profound difference in his life. Roslyn had shattered his legendary dispassion and left him longing to be with her for the rest of his days.

He’d never expected to feel anything so powerful, so deep, for anyone. But he had no doubts that his feelings for Roslyn would last a lifetime. The love inside him was painfully strong; hunger and desire a sweet ache.

“So, Heath, now it is your turn,” Marcus commented. “If we must suffer the slings and arrows of matrimony, we should insist on your esteemed company.”

“I can’t deny the thought has crossed my mind,” Heath responded casually.

Both his friends raised sharp eyebrows, but it was Marcus who spoke first. “Do you have a particular target in mind?”

Heath gave a shrug. “There is one woman who intrigues me, but she clearly has no desire for my company.”

“Astonishing,” Marcus declared in an amused drawl, “since all the ladies love you for your irresistible charm. Fortunately there are any number who would leap at the chance to become your bride.” Marcus grinned. “It would only be fitting if you should wind up falling in love and marrying. We three have been through thick and thin together. Our foray into matrimony shouldn’t be any different.”

Heath’s mouth flickered in an enigmatic smile. “I might have to give it some consideration. You two bleaters are so disgustingly happy, I can scarcely bear to be in your company.”