Page 115 of Romancing Daphne

His teasing tone proved infectious.“I suppose your life would be a very steep price to pay for a single picnic.”

“I am pleased that you think so,” he said. She loved seeing him smile sofreely. He rarely had before breaking with his father.“I am likewise pleased that you have agreed to such a lackluster activity as taking a turn with me. Strolling with a rather ordinary fellow cannot be nearly as enjoyable an excursion for a beautiful lady.”

A beautiful lady.To hide her furious blush, Daphne offered a light comment.“I do believe you are flirting with me.”

“I most certainly am,” he replied.

An excited yelping cut off whatever he intended to say next.

James turned in the direction of the sound.“Blast it,” he muttered under his breath. “That pup manages to ruin more moments . . .”

She slipped her hand from his and began leisurely walking back towardthe house. “I’ll leave the two of you alone, then.”

He called after her, his voice nearly begging,“Please, don’t leave.”

The words reverberated in her mind, echoing in her own voice again and again, the sound reminiscent of the very little girl she’d once been, throughher growing up years, and as recently as the silent pleas she’d held backduring Linus’s departure.“Please, don’t leave” had ever been her words. So many times she had begged using that precise phrase, but never had it beendirected at her.

She turned back just as James reached her. His was a look of nearpanic. Had he truly been so upset at the possibility of her walking away?

“Daphne,” he breathed out her name, relief filling the single word to near bursting.“I hadn’t meant to make such a mull of things. I have been racking my brain trying to think of the right way to go about all this, but romance and courtship are hardly my forte.”

“Romance?” The word emerged so quietly he likely hadn’t heard.

“You deserve all of that, but I’m such a muttonhead about it all. I will try. I swear I will. Only, please, Daphne.” He took hold of her hand, the gesture almost frantic.“Please, don’t leave me.”

Her heart pounded, her thoughts swirling around.

“I realize life has not taught you to trust easily. My own history with you has only added to that. But I swear to you, I will not walk out on you. So, please, do not walk out on me.”

Good heavens, he looked very nearly desperate, worried to the point of utter agitation.

“Why is it so important for me to stay?” she asked, praying his answer was the one she longed most to hear.

He gently took her face in his hands. Stepping closer to her and bending so they stood nearly eye to eye, he whispered,“Because I cannot live without you.” He closed his eyes, anguish radiating from him.“Because if you ever left me, I’d be broken. Just like Apollo mourned his Daphne the rest of his life. Just as your father still grieves for his wife. I’d be lost without you, Daphne.”

“Oh, James.” Emotion broke her words even as hope surged within her.

He leaned his forehead against hers, eyes still closed.“I love you,” he said quietly.“I love you.”

Words she thought never to hear, though she’d dreamed of him saying them since she was twelve years old.“I was not leaving, James.”

He opened his eyes and pulled back only enough to look at her.“Notnow? Or not ever?” he pressed as though he depended on that answer to goon.

The implications of his question struck her with such force sherequired a moment to catch her breath. He wanted her with him always. He loved her.“I’ll not ever leave you, James.”

He kissed her gently, holding her with a tender earnestness, as though she were a very fragile treasure. He broke the seal of their lips but immediately thought better of it and kissed her once more.

“We should return to the house,” he said after a moment. “Else yourbrother-in-law will likely make good on his threats and murder me at last.”

“I won’t let him.”

He kept an arm around her waist as they walked up the path once more. “Heisthe Dangerous Duke,” he reminded her.

“Yes, but I am not afraid of him.”

James pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You do not fear the Duke of Kielder. You were not intimidated by my father nor crushed by the unkindness of the Bowers, and by some miracle, you have begun to forgive me for my many trespasses against you.”

“I have had a very busy Season.”

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