The Bridal Contract (Darrington family Book 3) by Sandra Sookoo

interjected.
    “Very well, but do hurry back.” With a swat to Daniela’s bottom, he sent the child off with Eloisa.
    Never had she made the trip from the parlor to the kitchens and back so quickly. By the time Eloisa returned, she was a trifle breathless. “Sorry for the delay.”
    “Think nothing of it.” Oliver glanced at her with a faint smile. “While you were gone, I thought over my immediate future. Having a child underfoot onboard a ship would provide any number of complications.”
    How… disappointing. “I see.” She’d assumed Oliver would do the right thing, but then again, she didn’t know him that well either. Her mind’s eye jumped to a life of fancy and sails. If she imagined hard enough, she could almost feel the warm, ocean breezes on her cheeks. Then just as quickly, she dashed the images away. He wasn’t Peter and she most certainly wouldn’t be spending her life, or any sort of leisure time, with him.
    “Don’t come the crab, now.” His teasing voice jarred her from the glory of travel. “We have an engagement to plan, er, the contract terms at least,” he said, his tone cajoling.
    “How very formal.” She frowned. Something was missing. Yes, she’d agreed to a business arrangement, yet shouldn’t there be more pomp and circumstance? This was the second engagement she’d agreed to without even a congratulatory flute of champagne or anything to mark the occasion. Though the thrill in her romantic heart-of-hearts was strong at the intrigue of it all, she couldn’t shake the uninspired feeling.
    “You do still want to go through with it, right?” A hint of alarm threaded through the question.
    “Yes, but…” How to explain without seeming silly?
    “Yes?” He arched an eyebrow.
    Eloisa sighed. There really was nothing for it. “Yes, I’ll go through with it, but I rather thought there might be more fuss than simply putting my signature on a line and being indebted to a man for thirty days.”
    “More, how?”
    Damn and blast. Perhaps this once she could give into temptation, lock Peter’s promise away into a little box far at the back of her mind, and indulge if only for a second. She squirmed on the settee as her cheeks warmed. What a nodcock I’ve become. “Well, romance, for one. Yes, I understand this is an engagement in name only with nothing involved except money and posturing, but it is a letdown just the same.”
    Oliver came close to her and offered a hand. When she accepted his assistance and rose to her feet, he didn’t release her fingers. “What else do you desire from me?” he asked in a quiet voice brimming with emotion she couldn’t define.
    Oh, he was undeniably handsome, but she’d promised Peter she’d never replace him. As she focused her gaze on his sensual lips, her stomach fluttered. Surely, she couldn’t ask the viscount to kiss her. How droll. Besides, she was quite happy with the memory of her first, and only, love, wasn’t she? She looked away lest he spy her confusion. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just being silly.” With a sharp tug, she pulled her hand from his and retreated to the opposite side of the room. At least with space between them, she could breathe and think clearly.
    “Don’t doubt yourself. Those initial thoughts are always the truest. It does matter.” He followed her but didn’t stop until he’d trapped her against the wall. A cabinet full of ivory animal statues halted her escape on the left and he leaned an arm on the wall beside her head on the right. “Of course there are other things to consider in a case like this. Why not consider yourself for once? I suspect you spend too much time taking care of everyone else’s needs to think of your own.”
    She sucked in a breath as his Darrington-blue eyes bore into hers. Why did they appear so intense, so insistent? “I…” What was it they were discussing? Eloisa slipped her hands behind her back to prevent the temptation of running her fingers along those