LITMIR.BIZ

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and made promises to our fathers. I meant to come for you sooner and I should have. I can see that now. But the point is, we owe our families and we owe each other the chance to see if this will work.”

      And, of course, there was the provision in the wedding settlement that should the marriage not be consummated, he would lose his half of the business.

      She was shaking her head, stirring fine tendrils of flame-colored hair against her cheeks. Desire slipped through him. He forced himself not to think of her in his bed.

      “Give me a chance, Violet. Stay with me for the next thirty days and if, at the end of that time, you are still convinced it won’t work out between us, I’ll agree to the annulment.”

      But in order for that to happen, she would have to remain a virgin, as he was certain she was now. Rule was determined that would not be the case. Violet was his wife and he meant to have her—soon and often.

      He looked at her sitting there, her cheeks still a little flushed from his blatant perusal. Where women were concerned, he wasn’t a fool. He knew she felt at least some of the same attraction for him that he felt for her. He had a month to seduce her into accepting him.

      Rule was sure a month would be more than enough.

      “Will you do it? Will you stay long enough for us to get acquainted? I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

      She took a deep breath, making her breasts rise tantalizingly, and he realized how fiercely he was aroused.

      “I have already given this a great deal of thought and my answer is no.”

      A thread of irritation filtered through him. He wasn’t used to being nay-sayed by a woman, and to think that this little slip of a girl—He amended that. Violet was no longer a child. In fact, he saw a lot of Howard Griffin in the implacable way she held her ground.

      It made him all the more determined. She was his, dammit. Whether she realized it or not.

      “I won’t agree to an annulment, Violet. Not unless you meet my terms. That means you will have to hire a lawyer. It will take months to settle the matter in court—to say nothing of the scandal it will cause our families. It’s 1860, Violet. Boston and London aren’t nearly as far apart as they once were.”

      Her pretty lips thinned. “You are that determined? How can that be when you had no intention of returning to Boston?”

      “I told you I planned to come—” Inspiration struck and he shot to his feet. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

      Racing down the hall, he rushed into his study, drawing a swift look from Cousin Caroline, who sat reading in front of the fire. Searching through the top drawer of his desk, he drew out the ship’s passage to Boston he had purchased last week—though at the time, he wasn’t truly certain he would use it. Turning, he raced back to the breakfast room.

      “I was coming,” he said, holding up the ticket. “I bought this five days ago. The date is printed on the top.”

      He handed her the ticket and for the first time she looked uncertain. Clearly, she’d believed he’d never meant to live up to the bargain he had made.

      There were times he wasn’t sure himself.

      “Stay for the next four weeks,” he urged. “Give us a chance to get to know each other. If you won’t do it for me, do it for your father.” It was hitting below the belt, but for some strange reason he was growing desperate.

      Violet stared down at the ticket, then looked up at him. Her chin tilted up. “All right, thirty days. Then I expect you to stand by your word.”

      Rule grinned, gouging grooves into his cheeks, and Violet glanced shyly down at her lap. She wasn’t immune to him, he could tell, and he certainly wasn’t immune to her.

      Thirty days, he told himself, praying he wouldn’t have to wait nearly that long to have her in his bed.

      All of a sudden, being married didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.

      “Good heavens, what did he say?” Caroline shot through the door of Violet’s bedroom, where she had retreated to consider what she had just done.

      “He wants me to stay for a month. He says if I do, he’ll agree to the annulment.”

      Caroline’s fine blond eyebrows drew together. “He wants to stay married?”

      “That’s what he says.” She glanced up. “He was coming to get me. He showed me the ticket he bought.”

      “But you want to marry Jeffrey! The two of you have already discussed it!”

      “I told you, Rule said he would agree in thirty days. It’s either that or hire a lawyer, or barrister, or whatever they call them here. In the moment, it seemed the best solution.”

      “And now?”

      Violet sighed. “I should have pressed him harder, I suppose, but…”

      “You have that funny look on your face…the one I saw three years ago when you told me you had decided to marry him. It was there when you walked down the aisle and Rule took your hand.”

      “You’re mad. I don’t have a funny look on my face. I am merely trying to be sensible. I want an annulment. Rule wants thirty days to convince me we should stay married.”

      “He loses his half of the company if the marriage goes unconsummated. Didn’t you tell me that?”

      She nodded. “That is probably the reason he is so determined. Half ownership of Griffin is worth a lot of money. But people marry for money all the time.”

      “Yes, but you said you wanted to marry someone who loves you.”

      “I know. It’s just…”

      “Just what?”

      “Well, I promised my father and we are actually married, you know. What could it hurt to at least get to know him?”

      Caroline chewed her bottom lip. “Maybe you’re right. But we were supposed to spend the next few weeks with my grandmother—after you got him to agree. She hasn’t seen me since I was a little girl and she has been so looking forward to my visit. I have to go, Violet. That means you and Rule will be living in the house together alone.”

      She hadn’t thought of that. Or if she had, she hadn’t realized exactly what it would mean.

      She shrugged her shoulders, though she wasn’t feeling exactly nonchalant. “We’re married. It will hardly cause a scandal.”

      “I’m not talking about a scandal and you know it. The man is utterly delicious.Are you certain you can resist him?”

      Violet rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Jeffrey loves me and he is expecting us to wed. I am trying to do this the easy way. And I feel as though I owe it to my father.”

      Caroline sighed. “I can stay another few days, but that’s all.”

      “I’ll be fine. Rule works during the day and he is probably out most every evening.” A thought that disturbed her more than it should have.

      “I hope you’re right…my lady.”

      Violet laughed and so did Caroline.

      It would all work out, she was sure.

      Besides, she had never been to London, which appeared to be a fascinating city.

      And a month wasn’t really so very long.

       Four

      At the sound of heavy footsteps pounding down the hall, Rule looked up from the paperwork spread open on his desk to see his brothers, Royal and Reese, striding through his open study door.

      “You are married!” Royal, the oldest and current Duke of Bransford,

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