Page 154 of A Story of Love

Fast frowned. “Surely you did not mean to publish your books under your own name?”

***

Lori wanted to retort of course she’d meant to claim credit for her novel. But it would have been a lie. She had always known she would need to employ a nom de plume. If she didn’t, she would feel constrained in her writing, fearing that she would put something into print that would shame her brother and his family.

So why did it annoy her so much that Fast might expect the same consideration for his family?

Because you are scared. Here is the thing you wanted and thought you could never have—marriage to this magnificent man—and you are scared that you are transgressing your own principles.

Was that true? Was that all she really cared about? The preservation of her principles?

“Lorelei? What are you thinking? Don’t hide from me. Talk to me.”

Lori began to rise up from his lap, but Fast tightened his grip on her fingers and slid his other arm around her waist to keep her on his knee.

“Not so fast, Lorelei. I have no objection to my wife writing books, but—”

“But you would not allow the woman you marry to work for a newspaper?” she couldn’t help retorting.

“Under no circumstance would I allow my wife to plunge heedlessly into danger, as you have been accustomed to doing. But that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with a mutually acceptable compromise.”

“As long as you get what you want.”

“Precisely.” He chuckled. “Quit squirming to get away,” he chided.

“I won’t be told what to do by some man!”

“I won’t be some man. I will be your husband.”

“That doesn’t—mmmff”

Fast kissed her until she stopped trying to escape, until she reached for him, her fingers sliding into the silky heat of his hair. Before she knew it, she was moaning and pressing herself against him, taking control of their kiss, reveling in finally being joined to him when she’d feared for almost a month that he was going to marry another.

It was Fast who pulled away, his eyes heavy lidded. “Lord, but I’ve missed that.”

Lori shook off her erotic torpor. “Just because I allowed you to kiss me does not mean I agree to abide by your commands.”

He sighed. “Is working for a newspaper what you really want, Lorelei? Because I recall you saying that you only took the job with Parker so you could afford to do what you truly love, and that is write novels.”

Why had she ever told him that?

“Well?” he prodded.

“It is true that I want to work on my novel now, but what about if I decide to do something else later? What then, Fast? Are you going to forbid me to do as I wish?”

“I want us both to get what we want, Lorelei,” he said, holding her gaze. “We will work together to make sure we are both happy. I promise you that.”

“You can say that now, but once we’re married—"

“Once we are married you are my property under the law,” he finished for her.

She swore she heard the clanging of a cell door.

He lightly caressed her jaw. “I cannot change what the law says, Lorelei. But I can give you my word that I will always love, cherish, and protect you—without trampling your rights and desires in the process.” He gave her a rueful look. “Unfortunately, you’re going to have to take my word for that because I can’t change the law for you, no matter how unjust I think it is.”

“And you will accept no arrangement other than marriage?”

“If you’re asking whether I will stop seeing you if you refuse to marry me, then the answer is no. But if you’re asking if I think that sneaking into each other’s dwellings of an evening would satisfy me for long? The answer is also no. I want you in my life. Not just as a lover, but as a companion, a wife, a mate, and a mother to my children.”