Baron of Bad (Lords of Scandal 5)

She gasped as the blue stone caught the candlelight, sparkling in the night. But closing the ring in his palm, he began to unbutton the glove of her left hand. “Would you, Lady Grace, do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Then, finger by finger, he tugged off her glove, exposing her hand underneath.

“Yes,” she answered, tears filling her eyes.

Grasping the sparkling sapphire cut in a rectangle shape and encrusted with diamonds, he slid the piece onto her finger. “We’ll have it fitted soon.” He grimaced as he assessed the size. “I bought it today for just such an event as this.”

She shook her head, her mouth hanging open. “You bought me an engagement ring today?”

“Well, I wanted to be prepared.”

She swatted his hand with her now-ringed one. “I just put my heart on a platter for you and all your friends to see and you were planning on proposing anyway?”

He drew his brows together. “I’d already proposed. Remember?”

“But…” she started.

“Grace,” Ben interrupted. “You know I love our bits of banter. I have loved you since the first moment I saw you, and as I’ve gotten to know you, my feelings have only strengthened. I bought the ring because I wanted to be prepared for the event that you might possibly return my feelings.”

“Oh,” she answered, heat filling her cheeks. That was actually lovely.

“Well, I’ll be,” her mother called from above. “My daughter is getting married.”

“Yes.” Grace didn’t look up, but instead, looked right at Ben. “I am.”

* * *

Ben refused to let go of her hand. Even as her mother and Emily hugged her, even when her father came down, beaming and, slapping him on the arm, said they needed to have another chat.

Grace was his. How the fates had aligned to allow him such a wife as her, he had no idea but he didn’t think he’d let her out of his sight for even a moment until after the wedding. Perhaps not even for some time after the blessed event.

He should have used the word love too. Grace had. As she’d said. She’d offered her heart on a platter. He tightened his grip on her hand as if that would keep her at his side.

“Let’s all go to dinner,” her mother chirped. “We’ve got so much to discuss.”

Bad shrugged, keeping Grace’s hand in his. He hadn’t returned her glove. He rather liked looking down at her delicate fingers clasped in his as the ring he’d just given her sparkled back up at him. Just like a queen, he thought he might drape her in jewels. Her skin was the perfect palette to watch them glimmer in the moonlight.

“We’ll need to get you a necklace to match,” he murmured close to her ear.

She frowned, looking over at him. “You won’t have the club anymore. Perhaps jewels are not the best use of money.”

He raised his brows. He’d done well for himself over the years, building up a fortune that dukes would envy. He’d stayed with the club because he’d felt at home there long after his financial worries had vanished. “I’ll never leave you uncared for, Grace.” His eyebrows lifted. “But is the girl who insisted on shopping for ribbon the same one who now cautions me against purchasing her pretty baubles?”

She sniffed, trying to hold back a grin but not quite succeeding. “That’s when I thought I needed a husband. Now I have one.”

He laughed then. He’d never tire of her wit. In fact, he was certain it was part of what would keep him entertained for years. “Well, just so you know, I meant what I said about attending you like my queen.” He dropped his head down to place a soft kiss on her neck.

She turned her head to rub her cheek against his. “I can think of a few better ways for you to worship me.”

Heat and desire that had been simmering just below the surface, roared up inside him. “I can barely wait.”

“Grace,” Lady Winthrop called from the front of the group. “When do you think you’d like to have the wedding? Perhaps a month from now? That should give us time to properly plan.”

He stopped and Grace’s fingers tightened in his. “A month?”

“Six weeks, perhaps?” her mother asked. “That will give us time to post the banns and…”

Her father interrupted. “I’d prefer sooner. We do have a scandal nipping at our heels.”

Bad’s insides relaxed a bit, his shoulders drooping.