Improperly Wed (Aristocratic Grooms 3)

Colin lifted the corner of his mouth. “You didn’t just walk. You ran.”

“What?” she joked. “In three-inch platform heels and a red sequin minidress?”

“The minute I saw you, I wanted to strip you out of them.”

She gazed at him through her lashes. “And you did.”

“You couldn’t have chosen a better seduction ensemble if you had tried,” Colin teased. “What were you thinking?”

Belinda heated. “I was thinking that I was in Vegas and I was going to have a good time.”

“Ah,” he said, nodding with understanding. “You were already starting to do things your way without knowing it.”

“And maybe, just maybe, when I saw you, I made sure to stay put until you spotted me in the hotel.”

“Ah.” Colin nodded with satisfaction. “Finally, a confession. Here’s mine—I knew you were staying at the Bellagio.”

Belinda’s eyes widened. “No doubt your ego was in full bloom.”

He placed her hand on his chest. “But my heart shriveled on the vine for the next three years.”

She turned her head to look up at him. “Did you ever discover how our annulment was never finalized in Nevada?”

“The biggest confession of all,” Colin admitted. “I did not authorize my attorney to file the annulment papers.”

Belinda gasped and then laughed in disbelief. “I always suspected as much!”

“I tried to find every which way to get you back. I even pursued the end of the Wentworth-Granville feud in order to get you back. Why do you think I became a collector of impressionist art?”

Belinda’s eyes shone. “Me?”

Colin nodded.

Belinda swallowed against the well of emotion. “Oh, Colin, how sweet and romantic.”

He brushed her lips with his.

“I’m sorry for running out on you in Vegas.” When he made to speak, she pressed a finger to his lips. “In the morning, I was afraid of the floodgates that you opened in me, and I didn’t know how to deal with the situation. You were willing to take risks that I wasn’t. You were more than I expected, and more than I could handle at the time.”

When she lowered her hand, he stole another quick kiss.

“You handled me fine.” His eyes glinted. “And I’d say

you took a big risk by eloping with me. You just needed me to get used to jumping into the deep end once in a while in your life.”

She laughed. “I’m sure you’ll give me plenty more chances to do it.”

“I was a lord who was missing his heart, and didn’t know it.”

“The majority of Wentworths would agree that you were heartless,” she allowed.

“Only because you’d stolen my heart.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “And you absconded to New York with it.”

Belinda’s lips twitched. “Uncle Hugh would claim you’re the thief who stole the Wentworth family patrimony—the London town house, the Berkshire country estate…”

“But what you didn’t understand is that you always had the more valuable property in your possession, and I was just trying to get my heart back.”

“You took the family jewel, the Berkshire estate.”