“I suppose being pretty.”
“You sound as though you don’t believe them.”
Grace watched the rhythmic beat of the horse’s hooves as they plodded down the road. “I don’t not believe them. I just don’t see what the advantage is. I mean, perhaps there are some. I get asked to dance at balls. Once, when I was a child, my father’s friend had gold pearls on his watch chain. When I exclaimed how beautiful they were, he chuckled and gave me one. My sisters were very jealous. When Emily asked why I’d gotten one and she hadn’t, my mother exclaimed, “Oh, Emily, try and understand, Grace is just lovely to look at.”
She peaked over at Ben who was frowning. “I can tell by your tone that you find this annoying, but I fail to understand why.”
Grace let out a long sigh. “People like me because of my face or my hair. They don’t actually like me, not even you.”
He grunted. “I never said I didn’t like you.”
“You didn’t have to,” she replied.
“Enough of that,” he answered. “I like you just fine but you go out of your way to provoke me.”
That was most likely true. “You provoke me too.”
He looked over to her then. “Do I?”
She huffed a breath. “You know that you do. In fact, you have rejected me twice in the last several hours.”
He raised a finger, which in her mind added insult to his words. “I didn’t reject you either time, I’m just being prudent.”
“Can’t you see that a lady doesn’t wish for a man to be prudent when discussing their possible future? I’m glad you’re weighing your options with me like a transaction. That makes me feel truly special.”
“That isn’t what I meant,” he snapped, slowing the carriage. “You want me now, Grace, after my rescue. How will you feel in a month from now when the fear has faded and you’re strapped to a former street urchin?”
“Ben,” she gasped. “Is that what you think?”
* * *
Why had he gone and revealed how he still couldn’t lose the stigma of his past? He’d never shared any of this with anyone and he knew why. In the moment, he’d never been more vulnerable. “I’m not good with words. I wish I was.” He gripped the reins tighter. “I learned to read when I became a lord but…” Damn. He was doing it again. Sharing details that he’d never confessed before today.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his chest tight, but then her hand gently wrapped around his biceps. “You’re doing marvelously well, in my opinion. I’m practically hanging on your every word.”
He swallowed, trying to clear the emotion that clogged his throat. How had she known that’s what he needed to hear? “Thank you,” he said, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
“You’re welcome,” she answered. “And just to make this clear, I would be lucky to be strapped to you, so to speak.”
He nearly fell from the bench. “You don’t mean that—”
Grace gave him a pointed stare. “I do to,” she answered, leaning in and placing a kiss on his mouth. Her lips were achingly soft against his.
“Grace, I inherited a failing barony. You could have the richest duke in England. Well, except for Daring. He’s already spoken for.”
“Is your barony still failing?” she asked, her eyebrows going up as if she were about to make a point.
Damn the woman was hard to argue with. “No. But I used a gaming hell to lift it back up.”
She nodded. “Resourceful.” And she touched one of her pointing fingers to the other. Then she began counting a list on her hand. “Brave.” Middle finger. “Strong.” Ring finger. “Honorable.” Pinky. “I’ve got more but I’ve run out of fingers.”
He wanted to stop the carriage, pull her in his lap and kiss her senseless. “In terms of our marriage, it was never a question. I knew the moment I set after you that I may well have to marry you.”
Grace cringed and he knew he said something wrong. She likely wanted a declaration of how he wanted to marry her, dreamed of a woman like her. He didn’t blame her, but he’d revealed so much, he wasn’t sure he was capable of more. Not today.
He braced himself for her anger, but instead, she did something far worse. Her shoulders hunched over. “That hardly seems fair. After risking your life to keep me safe, you’re going to be forced into a marriage.”
“I didn’t say forced,” he said, his lips pulling back from his teeth.