“I do. One of my few ladylike skills, but it was a necessity. There aren’t many places to buy ready-made clothing and those that have them are very pricey.”
“I at least know what goes into it, so we’ll do fine. If Mr. Doolittle is ferrying Mama and Henri, we should take her carriage. Your buggy is a bit snug for me.”
She nodded.
“Don’t look so glum,cheri. It will be fun.”
The last thing Val wanted was for people to say that the esteemed and wealthy Drake LeVeq was marrying a woman so ignorant she didn’t even know how to purchase a blouse.
After she finished her meal, she changed clothes and joined him for the ride to the Quarter.
On the drive, Drake glanced her way. He knew her to be a prideful woman and having someone else purchase even a hairpin for her wasn’t something she’d want. Now, facing the idea of him spending money on her, and he planned to spend a costly sum, was undoubtedly distressing. He’d never met a woman who didn’t enjoy shopping, but then again, outside of his sister-in-law, Sable, he’d also never met a woman so determined to make her own way. He ran his eyes over her tightly set face and wanted to soothe away the tension in her jaws and lips. He also knew it was time to make amends because he missed their banter and her sunny smile. “I want to apologize for being so unappreciative of your apology,cheri.”
She turned.
“You’ve offered me peace more than once and I swatted it away. If you can’t forgive me right at this moment, would you consider it sometime in the near future? If you give up on me, I’ll have to live with it. But I miss you a great deal,” he said sincerely.
She remained silent for what seemed to be so long, he didn’t think she’d reply, but she did. “That couldn’t have been easy for you to say,” she said softly.
He gave her a ghost of a smile. “Admitting wrong is always hard for a pirate, but for you? I’d do it a hundred times.”
“That’s a very sweet thing to say, Drake.”
It was the truth. He wanted to ask her to stay with him until the end of time, but the decision was hers alone. Forcing her to answer before she was ready would only reopen the hole they’d fallen into and he didn’t want that to happen again.
She said then, “Can I say that I’d like to pick up where we left off, and that I miss you, too?”
The bricks he’d built around his heart shattered into a thousand pieces and he felt alive once more.
“One last thing?”
He looked away from the road. “Yes?”
“I’d enjoy staying married to you after we send my father back to New York, if you still want me to.”
He stared with wide questioning eyes.
“I would.”
He stopped the buggy and studied her silently. He didn’t know whether to jump up and down, or weep like a small child. “I’m honored,cheri.”
He reached over and gently lifted her clear of the seat and onto his lap. Holding her close against him, he whispered, “Very honored.”
Raising her chin, he leaned down and the kiss that followed was sweet, tender, and brimming with what they both felt inside. When they finally and reluctantly parted, he paused and filled with wonder, viewed her small, perfect face like the pirate’s gold he felt her to be. “Is it okay for me to tell you I love you?”
She cupped his jaw and kissed him softly. “Only if I’m allowed to tell you the same.”
His joyful roar startled the birds in the trees into panicked flight.
She chuckled. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”
He ran a finger over her lush bottom lip. “Many scandalous things, I guarantee.”
“Drive, pirate man. We have clothes to buy.”
“Clothes you’ll not be wearing for long or very often when I’m around, that’s a guarantee, too.”
“Good,” she said, holding his eyes. She left his lap and they continued on their way.