Page 18 of The Wallflower’s Great Escape (The Wallflowers’ Revolt #1)

J ason wasn’t entirely sure what had just come out of his mouth.

He remained poised in the middle of the room, his hands at his sides, still feeling the echo of his own voice.

I’ll give you twenty-five thousand to marry her tonight.

And the strangest thing was…

The moment he said it, he felt…calm.

Relieved, even. As though something that had been gnawing at him for weeks had finally settled into place.

Well, he thought grimly. No turning back now.

“Pardon?” Georgiana’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

She was still perched in the window, her skirts ruffling faintly in the breeze, her brown eyes wide with outrage…or was it disbelief?

She shook her head violently. “No,” she said firmly.

Her father squinted at him, incredulous. But finally found his voice. “Are you quite serious ?”

Jason straightened, his jaw tight. “I am entirely serious,” he said evenly, his jaw still ticking.

Georgiana’s mother let out a scandalized laugh. “Well, you’re mad,” she sniffed, already flouncing toward the door. “Completely mad. I’ll be in the coach while you men work out the details. Come along, Georgiana.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Georgiana bit out.

Jason’s lips twitched faintly. “Georgiana stays with me,” he commanded.

Henry, who had been glaring at Jason from his awkward seat near the door, finally spoke up. “I should call you out for ruining my sister,” he growled.

Jason’s head snapped toward him. “I did not ruin her,” he said sharply. “I’m attempting to do the opposite, actually.”

“Henry, you dimwit,” Lord Chadwick said, rolling his eyes, “Pembroke’s about to save her reputation and give us twenty-five thousand pounds to boot. A fortune! You shouldn’t be calling him out. You should be shaking his hand.”

Henry looked thoroughly confused by this information. He never had been the sharpest foil in the rack. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again before he simply stood and hobbled out after his mother, muttering under his breath.

Jason exhaled slowly, then turned back to Lord Chadwick. “One more condition,” he said, his voice calm but firm.

The older man’s brow rose.

“I need a few minutes alone with Georgiana before we discuss any contract. I will not proceed without her full agreement.”

Lord Chadwick barked a dry laugh. “We don’t need her agreement,” he scoffed.

Jason’s eyes hardened. “You do if you want my money,” he said flatly.

That shut him up.

After a moment, Lord Chadwick sniffed and adjusted his waistcoat. “Very well. I’ll wait for you downstairs in your study.”

When the door closed behind him, the room fell quiet except for the faint rattle of the window where Georgiana still perched.

Jason dragged a hand through his hair and turned toward her slowly.

She didn’t look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the street below, her fingers clutching the sill, her shoulders rigid.

She was obviously scared.

And furious.

And he couldn’t blame her.

He took a careful step closer. “Georgiana,” he said softly.

She didn’t move.

Another step. “I know you want to bolt,” he said, gentler this time. “I know you’re angry with me. And you have every right to be. Of course. But please…come back inside. Sit down. Hear me out.”

Her fingers tightened on the sill.

“I will not insist on anything ,” he continued. “You have all the choice here. You can say no. I’ll take you to the coaching station myself if that’s what you want. I promise you, I can get you there undetected, your family be damned.”

That got her attention. She glanced back at him, startled.

“I promise ,” he said again, hand on his heart.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but after a moment, she swung her leg back over the sill and allowed him to help her to the floor.

She stalked to the chair she’d abandoned earlier and sat with her arms crossed, still glaring at him.

Jason lowered himself into the chair opposite her. “I won’t pretend this is how I imagined any of this,” he began dryly.

Her eyes narrowed.

“But I would never force you to marry me,” he said quickly. “I want you to understand that. I…want you to have a choice. You can continue with your plan and go to Bath, or?—”

“Or what?” she asked coolly.

“Or you can marry me.”

Her brows shot straight up.

Jason huffed a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I…need to marry eventually,” he admitted. “And we already know there’s an attraction between us. At least I think there is.”

She blinked at him. “Yes,” she admitted tersely.

“I didn’t plan this,” he admitted quietly. “I’d be lying if I said I’d even had the thought before…well, before your family entered this room.” He smiled faintly.

Georgiana took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to marry me unwillingly.” Her voice shook. “I don’t want you to save me. And I certainly don’t want the ton to think you married me to save me.”

She stared at him then—really stared—until he finally realized what she must have been waiting for.

“I can’t promise I’ll be a good husband,” he said with a shaky laugh. “But I can promise I’ll try my best. And—at the risk of sounding arrogant—I can’t possibly be worse than Henderville.”

That startled a real smile out of her, and Jason felt something in his chest unclench at the sight of it.

“As for the ton ,” he said, “I promise you I’ll make sure they think I married you because I wanted to.”

He pushed himself out of his chair and dropped to one knee and—because it felt right, because it felt necessary—reached for her hand.

Her breath hitched.

“Please,” he said softly. “Georgiana… marry me .”