Page 91 of A Remarkable Rogue

He still doted on Robbie, even after Sydney had so carefully explained to her son who she was, why she’d finally come for him, and that they would be together always. Nate had reassured the boy that all would be fine, and he did it with as much love as if he were Robbie’s father.

But the affection between Sydney and Nate that she’d come to cherish was gone. Its absence left a gaping hole in her heart.

He looked up from the fire and caught her staring.

She dropped her gaze to her book and offered a quick prayer that he didn’t see the glistening in her eyes.

“Interesting reading?” he drawled.

“Very.”

“Glad to hear it, since you’ve been on the same page for ten minutes.”

She rolled her eyes at him in irritation. Of course he would notice that she hadn’t turned the page. “I find this passage particularly fascinating.”

He wiped the coal dust from his hands onto his trousers and stood, crossed the room to her, and took the book from her hands. “Wheat Farming Across the Seasons.” His lips twitched. “A scintillating read, I’m certain.”

With a scowl, she snatched the book back. “I do own a farm, you know.”

“You raise sheep.”

She lifted her chin. “I’m considering going into the wheat crop.”

“So will the sheep,” he answered dryly.

As he returned to the fireplace and leaned against the mantel, she resisted the urge to heave the book at him. He was the most frustrating, arrogant, unbelievably—

“Have you changed your mind?” he asked quietly, interrupting her mental tirade.

“About what?” Oh, for goodness’ sake! If she wanted to grow wheat—

“Marrying me.”

Her breath caught.

Stunned into silence, she didn’t know how to answer. She’d thought of little else since he proposed to her, and these past two days of being so close to him and yet a world away had worn on her. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to enjoy his friendship, his nearness, and his attention until they were gone. In only a few hours,hewould be gone from here, too, and once Hawking was arrested, if she didn’t agree to marry him, there would be no reason for him to return.

Nate wasn’t Michael, yet she loved him just as much. If not more.

Butmarriage—could she do it? Could she give over her existence so completely again, even to this hero she loved with every ounce of her being?

She cleared her throat and dodged his question. “You hadn’t mentioned that since our first night in the carriage. I thought perhaps you’d given up the idea.”

He shook his head. “Siege warfare.”

She blinked. “Pardon?”

“When the enemy stubbornly digs in and refuses to negotiate, you pull back your forces and wait them out.”

He ducked as the book flew through the air at his head.

With a soft chuckle, he picked it up from the floor where it had landed. “That’s not a nice way to treat soldiers,” he admonished with a clucking of his tongue. Risking another object being aimed at his head, he turned his back to calmly slide the book into place on the shelf. “Or wheat farmers.”

He stilled with his hand lingering on the book’s spine.

“I’m leaving at dawn to arrest Hawking,” he said quietly, not looking at her.

“I know.” She wrapped her trembling hands in her skirt so she wouldn’t reach for him and beg him to stay.