Page 47 of Match Made in Heaven (The Cricket Club #5)
Ella melted into him, filling himself with the musky pine smell that she’d thought was gone. He rocked her gently, his hand on her back, the other behind her head. And all the while her skin hummed with the budding awareness that this was real. Jack was truly holding her.
She heard someone clear his throat. Oliver. She glanced over her shoulder to see him stride toward her father. “And how are you, Lord Weston? How was your summer?”
“Oh… ah… very good,” her father stammered, no doubt uncomfortable with his daughter being held so familiarly by a young man in the middle of his dining room. “And yourself, Your Grace?”
Ella giggled from the absurdity.
If nothing else, Oliver knew how to be diverting. He kept up a steady flow of conversation while Ella regrouped.
When her tears waned, Jack released her slowly, his expression still stony and cautious. So very Jack. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I never meant to hurt you.”
She reached out to his face, trailing her fingers from his temple all the way down to his jaw. “Is it really you?”
He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing over his necktie.
“I’d hoped for so long…” Her voice broke.
Jack captured her hand. “I love you,” he murmured. “And I plan on doing it for a long time, sweetheart, but I think now I better speak to your father. Can you let me do that?”
Ella laughed, nodding as she turned to the group, fiercely gripping Jack’s hand.
“Father? Mother?”
Jack stepped forward, granting her parents a sharp, perfect bow. “Lord Weston, may I have a moment of your time?”
Ella’s father looked hopelessly adrift in his own home. “Oh, yes, that would be fine”—he glanced at his wife—“I think?” Lady Weston gave him a stiff nod. The viscount turned back to Jack. “We can go to my study or—”
“Oh, I think we’re past privacy, don’t you” Oliver quipped with a grand smile. “Let’s stay here. We’re already so cozy.”
Jack shook his head at his brother.
Lord Weston was no match for the duke. “That’s… all… right…” he replied, though it sounded more like a question. Lady Weston rolled her eyes, nodding again.
Jack lowered his chin. “My lord, I am here to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage—properly.
” Ella squealed. He gave her a bashful smile before continuing.
“I came to know your daughter while she lived at my brother’s estate.
Very quickly I realized that she was everything I could ever want in a wife.
She is beautiful and kind and intelligent.
She’s the kind of person that listens, truly listens.
” He paused. “Now, I know you had better people in mind, and I don’t blame you for that.
But no one will ever love Ella more than I will. ”
Jack’s cheeks ballooned as he blew out a breath. Ella grinned, wondering if he’d ever said that much at one time in his life.
As they waited for Lord Weston’s response, Oliver claimed the floor and slapped a folder across Jack’s chest, forcing him to catch it before the contents scattered.
“Ah, yes,” Jack added. “I know my lack of home ownership has been an issue in the past, but my brother can confirm that I purchased two townhomes this afternoon: one right next door and the other a little farther down on the crescent. Both have sizeable libraries. The people currently living there said they could be out as soon as needed.”
“The Earl of Braintree? Out?” Lady Weston gasped.
Jack grumbled, “My brother thought it showed excellent taste.”
“The plasterwork was phenomenal,” Oliver assured the room. “Truly master craftsmanship. First rate.”
“What?” Ella squawked. She dragged Jack into the corner as Oliver detailed the homes to her very avid mother. “I thought we were living on your ship?”
Jack’s eyes turned down. “Sweetheart, the Siren is gone.”
“I know that ,” she said. “But a different ship, one of your ships. What happened to that idea?”
“I’m trying to give you a life, Ella. A solid, respectful life, one that you deserve.”
“I deserve you!” she countered. “And you’re not going to stick me in a house while you go off to sea. I won’t do it. My place is with you!”
“Who said anything about sticking you anywhere?” he exclaimed. “We’ll live in it together. And when I have to be at sea, you’ll come with me there, too.”
But Ella wasn’t hearing him. It all sounded so final. So tame. “I won’t have you giving up your passion just for me. First it was the earring, and now it’s being a captain—”
“Will you forget the damn earring?” Jack barked.
“I’m not giving up anything. I’ll still sail, but not as much.
Sinclair’s been after me for years to stay on land and”—his mouth twisted as if he’d swallowed a nail—“ mingle . I’ve put in my time.
And now all I want is to make you happy. I deserve that.”
Elle’s neck wilted from the sweetness. She knocked her fist lightly against his chest, pouting. “But you’re a pirate at heart.”
Jack chuckled. “Maybe so, but I’m also my father’s son. And I can’t make him proud by running myself to death.”
Ella’s argument faltered. “Will you at least consider another earring?” she asked.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart.” He towed her back to the group.
“It should be bigger, shaped like a skull or pirate’s chest!”
“Of course,” he said, grinning. “Anything else?”
Ella looked at her parents, who were completely in the duke’s thrall.
Oliver commanded their attention, making her father laugh and her mother shriek with joy.
But Ella wasn’t fooled. She saw the glint in his eye.
He loved it just as much. Oliver was in his element, flirting with Lady Weston over expensive wine, delighting her with his good taste and flair for just about everything.
The lady’s excitement matched his own. In fact, Ella realized, her mother was getting too excited.
By one property in particular.
Ella adored her family and was thrilled to combine it with Jack’s. Loneliness would be a faint memory. But there could be too much of a good thing.
Ella twisted to Jack, capturing his head with her hands. “We are not choosing the townhouse right next to my parents. Hmm?”
Jack smiled and, despite their audience, swept in for a long, passionate, promising kiss. “I couldn’t agree more, my lady. I couldn’t agree more.”