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A flush rose in Evelyn’s cheeks as she met Ollie’s eye. They held each other’s gaze and the noise, the activity, around them began to fall away. All he could focus on was her doe eyes, as they considered him, as he considered her.

He adored her, though he’d never planned to tell her this, but could he be married to her?

Admittedly, it would help ease the public flogging they’d received after it had been announced to all of London she had been hiding at his house.

That would help the both of them, and get the journalists off their back a lot easier.

And it would even help get his grandparents to back off him marrying the Campbell woman, or anyone else.

The question hung between them, and her cheeks pinked.

Maybe because she was a redhead, but she flushed more than anyone he knew.

He knew her well enough to know it probably drove her mad, but he found it endearing.

Ollie had to bite his cheek to keep from grinning as the flush in her cheek spread over her face and, he suspected, behind her high collar.

He wondered if her whole body flushed, if it spread to her chest beneath her clothes.

He recalled unbuttoning her wedding dress and the soft, bare skin beneath, the outline of her body under the chemise that had clung to her skin when the dress had slid off, as she’d stood there, white silk and lace clinging to her, as a hot fire had burned nearby.

Her wearing exactly that as he gently pulled her to the floor, stretched out alongside her, that pink flush rising over every inch of her body, fire spreading all over the both of them.

Someone laughed loudly about something, kicking Ollie back to Earth. Evelyn, still holding his gaze, swallowed, as if she knew what a scoundrel he was being. Then she reached up to fiddle with her hair. He cleared his throat and looked away.

Father Reilly clapped his hands together once. “Shall we begin?”

“No, we shall not begin!” Evelyn protested and then, with a huff, grabbed Ollie’s arm, and dragged him to the back of the church and out of earshot from the others. “We need to discuss this. Can you believe we’ve been tricked into such nonsense? We should leave at once.”

Ollie had to admit if any other woman in the entire world were in Evelyn’s place right now, he would have already left.

Admittedly, the idea of marrying Evelyn didn’t sound that bad.

A bit unexpected, and the situation was rather unorthodox, but he didn’t hate it.

It didn’t send fear through him like it did with the Campbell woman, or any other woman who had tried to casually mention it in the past. And he knew he wanted it eventually.

“I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” He shrugged.

“Not a big deal?” she scoffed. “Ollie, this is marriage. We would be together for the rest of our lives!”

Ollie shrugged again, surprising even himself.

“You can’t be serious! You wouldn’t be able to marry…” Evelyn trailed off, puffing her cheeks out when she couldn’t think of anything to say. “Miss Findlay!”

He frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Why would you want to do this ? Surely, there’s someone else out there far more fitting. And…” Evelyn paused. “Wouldn’t you want your family present? Look at this, Ollie. You don’t even know those people. A group of strangers at your wedding. Is that what you want?”

“I suppose not.”

“Then it’s settled then. No wedding.”

A strange, very unpleasant sensation twisted at his stomach.

“But if we do this…” He paused as the thought began to form.

“There’s no chance of you being forced into marrying the earl.

Or anyone else, for that matter. Plus, it would be the best chance of repairing our reputations now that the whole city, perhaps even the country, knows you’ve been hiding at my place.

” Maybe that was why the thief had forced this, to help them. But why would he have cared?

To his surprise, Evelyn seemed to consider this. “True. But it also gives me a different problem. My father and the earl have a contract. The earl paid my father a lot of money to marry me. And he won’t let that go. He would sue my family into oblivion. And win.”

“How much did he pay?”

“I don’t know. But you saw how high the reward is. It’s probably exorbitant. Wait—” Evelyn stilled, but Ollie could see her brilliant mind at work. She looked him square in the eye. “Lady Litchfield.”

“Sorry?”

“Lady Litchfield and her husband separated. What if we do this and then once the business with the earl is over, we separate?”

Ollie did not experience the same relief this seemed to provide Evelyn. Maybe because he remembered how much trouble the separation had created for Lady Litchfield. He briefly mentioned this.

“True, but at this point, could my reputation be ruined any further? I’m a runaway bride, Ollie, who hid at an unmarried man’s house.

The entire city is looking for me. I can’t imagine people will ever look at me as anything other than an embarrassing disgrace.

And, yes, us marrying will help that significantly, but not wholly. ”

“What about telling our families? That’s the key part to all of this.

” Ollie tensed at the idea of his family finding out.

What would Dantes say? What would Victor say?

He wasn’t sure what they would take worse.

Ollie marrying Evelyn without them knowing, or Ollie marrying Evelyn and then separating from her?

Evelyn looked down at the ground. “This marriage has so far been the only way to solve my earl problem, but I’m asking far too much of you. Well, I’m not asking, really, we’re being forced into this in a way. But how could I have you do something like this for me?”

“I’m happy to do it, Evelyn. It will be uncomfortable informing family, yes, but I think after a bit of time mine will understand.

And like you said, it wouldn’t be for long.

Eventually, we will go our separate ways and return to our former lives.

” Something he should have felt more happy about.

And though he had always wanted to marry and have a family, doing this for her would prevent that from happening.

Once they married, that was it, even when they did separate.

He wouldn’t be able to marry anyone else.

Then again, had he not been proven to be incredibly irresponsible?

He didn’t even know how to count coin correctly.

He had no business being a father or a husband. A real husband, at least.

“We should discuss rules, then, just to make things clear,” Evelyn added.

“Rules?”

“Yes.” She hesitated then leaned closer to him and whispered. “This won’t be a real marriage. There will be no…you know…intimacy.”

Ollie cleared his throat. “Right.”

She shifted on her feet and reached up to her hair. “I know lots of people have…needs. And if you find yourself in a position to…satisfy those needs with someone—”

“Evelyn, no.” Ollie was horrified by the idea.

She blinked, surprised.

“I’m not going to do that to you,” he said as seriously as he could.

“But we won’t—”

“I don’t care. I would never step out on the marriage. Even if we aren’t intimate. Christ, I’m not that horrific.”

“You’re not horrific. I’m just saying, if you need—”

“And I’m telling you there is no one out there who could tempt me away from you.”

Evelyn’s eyebrows shot up to the sky and in truth, Ollie was stunned those words had come out of his mouth. “Hypothetically,” he added.

She flushed and reached up to her hair again. “Very well, then, Ollie. You’re sure you want to do this?”

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

She then surprised him and gave him a hug. Oh, how wonderful she felt in his arms. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear and when she pulled away her eyes were misty. She knuckled at them.

Everything after this became a blur. They returned to the others and confirmed they would marry, keeping the separation to themselves.

Once they were in place, Father Reilly began, but Ollie hardly heard anything.

He watched Evelyn, her pretty face almost angelic as she hung on to the priest’s words.

She glanced up at him with a sheepish grin.

She thought the whole thing was silly, and it was.

But still, he was getting married . And he could hardly believe it.

It was monumental. That awful heartburn returned with a vengeance as he kept his eyes on his stunning bride.

She had no white wedding dress like the queen had made popular, and instead wore an ill-fitting one.

He wore his sneak-about coat and hat, nothing fit for a groom.

They were surrounded by the gang of boys who’d kept him safe was he’d been a baby.

In a way, he supposed, he was surrounded by family.

A family he never had a chance to know, at least.

That was touching, in a way.

If only his brothers could be here.

If only he could tell them about this. It probably would be best not to.

As Father Reilly continued in his monotone voice, in a room that had witnessed thousands of weddings over five hundred years, Ollie found himself suddenly overcome by emotion.

He took Evelyn’s hands in his and stared down at her with admiration.

She didn’t pull away. He knew it was probably because she was frightened.

But the truth for him was he was going to embrace the moment.

For a short time in his life, Evelyn would be his wife and he promised to be the best husband he could be.

They exchanged their vows, Ollie said “I will.” Evelyn did, too.

A ring appeared from somewhere, but Ollie was too caught up in the moment to think about where it had come from. All he could focus on was sliding the ring onto Evelyn’s long, dainty finger. He swallowed as he did it.

His life was changing.

But not really. This was not real. This would not last.

Then they reached that key moment both Ollie and Evelyn had somehow forgotten about.

Father Reilly said, “You may now kiss the bride.”

Ollie tensed. “I do what?”

“You kiss your wife. Haven’t you been to a wedding before?” Colm said from the pew.

Panicked, Ollie looked down at Evelyn and his heart raced faster and faster. Nothing in her face gave away her thoughts. She looked up at him with round, innocent eyes, her lips just slightly parted. What should he do? He’d promised no intimacy. Did this count as intimacy?

He had been waiting for the perfect moment to kiss her properly, where he could pull her close and kiss her, soft and slow, until her mind and body melted into his.

But this wasn’t the perfect moment, either. They had an audience. And he didn’t want to break his promise to her.

Evelyn Sparrow, his new bride, closed her eyes, long lashes sweeping over her cheeks, and waited.