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“Thank you,” he said softly, even though she scared the wits out of him. “You always seemed –“

He didn’t know quite how to put it into words. This feeling that Lady Angela had somehow designed all of this between him and Holly.

With a shake of his head, he gave up even trying.

“Just, thank you,” he repeated simply.

To his surprise, she smiled and her face was so kindly, almost beatific, that it momentarily stunned him.

And then she ruined it all by scowling once more and shooing him away.

He didn’t falter and didn’t stop until he stood only inches from Holly.

She quirked a brow, a small smile hovering around her lips.

“Would you care to take a walk outside with me, Lady Holly?” he asked, conscious now of the stares of an impatient Angela behind him.

“I should be delighted, my lord. Thank you,” she answered, every inch the demure lady.

But he wasn’t fooled. Not when her cheeks flamed almost as bright as her hair. Not when she was biting that lip.

Evan made quick work of extracting her and practically dragged her into the garden outside.

Once again, the night was clear and cold. Already the grass below them was tipped with frost.

“You really do make a habit of dragging me out into the cold, don’t you?” Holly quipped laughingly as they came to a stop at the back of the balcony, away from prying eyes.

“Is that an invitation to warm you up, sweetheart?” he asked with a wink.

She tapped him lightly on the arm with her fan, gasping in mock outrage, even as her eyes darkened with heat, and Evan almost forgot his intention to propose.

The times they’d spent alone together this week had tested his resolve more than anything else in his life.

The sooner he married her, the better.

“You’re incorrigible,” she scolded him, but she was smiling happily, and he was smiling right back. “Why have you dragged me out here, in any case?”

“I needed to talk to you,” he answered swiftly. “Actually, I needed to ask you a question.”

Evan resisted the urge to pull at his cravat as a lump appeared in his throat.

Perhaps something in his expression gave him away, for Holly’s eyes widened as her smile faded.

“Have you enjoyed your Christmas?” he blurted.

Holly frowned in confusion, and he couldn’t blame her.

Everything he wanted was standing right here in front of him.

Why couldn’t he ask her to be his?

Why couldn’t he take that final step to having her forever?

As he watched, a soft smile spread across her lips.

“I have,” she answered. “Even though I thought it no longer possible, I have had the most wonderful Christmas. And that’s because of you. Because you reminded me that I could be happy. That I could miss my mother and mourn for her, but live my life all the same. Thank you.”

He couldn’t resist capturing her mouth in a brief but tender kiss then.