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He vowed he heard her teeth collide.
“First, you must know I would never do anything to tarnish your reputation. If I have done so in the past, I sincerely apologize.” He softened his voice to a coaxing timbre. “I brought you to Robyn’s because I know it is safe. I’m also certain Desmond won’t look for you here. However, because he has been watching your house and has seen Aubriella, Georgine, and Claire visiting weekly, he would likely suspect you fled to one of them.”
Roxina hesitated, absorbing his words. “How could you know that unless you also watched the cottage?”
“I concede, I did a few times.” Heaving a sigh, he cupped his nape. “Just what do you ladies have to talk about that you must meet every week? Don’t you socialize enough already?”
“As you are not my keeper,” that stubborn chin inched higher, and her expression grew as shuttered as a nunnery during a blizzard, “that is none of your business.”
It wasn’t.
“We are the Ladies of Opportunity. That is all you need to know.”
“Still, I do not think you understand precisely how dangerous or determined Desmond is, Roxina.”
Just remembering what the cur had done to Roxina made Shelby’s blood boil, and knowing Desmond was capable of far worse instantly turned his skin clammy and cold.
A glimmer of understanding dawned on her features.
“That’s what you didn’t want me to know, isn’t it, Shelby?” She twisted her fingers in the coral skirt. “You’re going after him, and you mean to leave me here. Thrust me upon Robyn and Matilda like an orphaned kitten or stray dog.”
Dash’s ears flickered, and he cracked an eye open.
“But as kind as your cousins have been, we are not intimate acquaintances. I refuse to be a burden to them.” Spine poker-stiff, she retreated a few paces, her delicate features etched with tension before she presented her back. “Any more than I shall continue to burden you.”
“Roxina, you are not a burden to me.” Conviction and truth made his voice firm and unwavering. “Everything I have done and continue to do for you is because I want to.”
“Why? Why?” Throwing her hands up, she swirled around to face him, the fabric of her dress swishing against her boots. “I don’t understand why you keep intruding into my life, taking care of me, providing for me, protecting me when I have never asked you to.”
“Haven’t you guessed?” He tenderly grasped her shoulders, staring into those pools of liquid chocolate. “Haven’t you suspected in the least?”
She searched his face, her gaze rolling over his features slowly, almost as if she were seeing him for the first time. Her eyes softened, and she formed a little ‘O’ with her mouth.
“Shelby, you… You care for me?”
Shelby’s breath hitched.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
His heart swelled, so full of love for her that it was a wonder it didn’t burst. Knowing the moment he had equally dreaded and longed for was finally at hand, he closed his eyes for a heartbeat, meeting her gaze once more.
“Roxina. I love you.”
Gasping, she stumbled backward two paces.
She stared in wide-eyed astonishment and disbelief, and then an undefinable emotion shadowed her features.
“How can you?” she asked barely above a whisper, her voice raspy and raw. “I have treated you abominably for years.”
“Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Shelby offered a rueful smile, a dry chuckle escaping as he gave a slight shrug. “Love exists whether one wants it to or not. It does not ask permission, nor does it abide by reason or practicality. It takes root where it will, growing despite reluctance and the odds, defying every logical argument against it.”
She stood in stunned and awkward silence that stretched on interminably.
Shelby dropped his focus to his boots.
Idiot.
He hadn’t expected a declaration of love in return, but her wariness?
