Read Online The Mysterious Mr. Heath by Ariel Atwell - Free Book Online

morning, you are not a man,” he pointed out. “You are a woman, an unmarried woman at that. And if you’ll forgive me for saying so, well past the age of consent. When we marry, you will no longer need to live this charade of being a man.”
    “My life is not a charade,” she said sharply. “And I have no intention of becoming a wife.” She saw the hurt in his eyes and cursed herself for being so forthright.
    “My apologies for offending you with my offer,” he said stiffly. He pulled back the covers and began to rise from the bed.
    “Matthew, don’t leave like this.” She tried to grab his arm, but he shook off her hand.
    “Like what?” he snapped, bending over to retrieve his clothing from the floor. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but admire his taut bottom and the way his muscles rippled across the backs of his powerful thighs.
    “Like I have offended you and you hate me,” she said, unable to be anything but honest with him.
    He turned around to look at her. “Dammit, Laurence, do you not understand anything? I cannot hate you, for I love you.”
    His words flew toward her like the arrow from a bow, scoring a direct hit on her heart. She felt their impact like a physical blow to her body.
    “You do?” she asked.
    He nodded.
    “No one…” She paused and swallowed. “No one has ever said those words to me before.”
    “Well, I am saying them.” His tone remained terse.
    “Say them again,” she asked. “Please.”
    He sighed and, dropping the clothing he had been holding, returned to the bed. Sitting down at the edge of the mattress, he touched her face gently.
    “I love you, Laurence.”
    “Are you sure?” she asked, and he smiled in that devastating way of his.
    “I am absolutely certain.”
    For a moment, she was quiet, slowly absorbing the meaning of his words. He loved her. Was absolutely certain about it. But what was the price of that love?
    She had to know. “In order to keep your love, must I change myself? Do I have to give up who I am and become an entirely different person?”
    He frowned. “You are twisting my words.”
    “Am I?” she asked steadily. “You want me to marry you and live as a woman, although you know full well the implications, for I could no longer practice law.”
    “Is it so wrong of me to want to marry and live as man and wife with the woman I love?” he asked. “Have you be mother to my sons?”
    “Is it so wrong of me not to want to give up the work that I love and the life that I have established for myself?” she countered.
    “Attempting to win an argument with a solicitor as skilled as Laurence Heath is never a wise endeavor,” he observed. “Particularly when one is disadvantaged by a lack of clothing.”
    “Perhaps, but I would assert that Solicitor Hastings can be equally effective in making his case,” she said, relieved that his earlier anger seemed to be dissipating.
    “I have my doubts about that but know when I am beaten, if only temporarily,” he said before claiming her mouth in a kiss that left no doubt in her mind about his powers of persuasion. “I will drop the matter for now, but know that this subject is far from settled. For I love you and I want you to be mine for all time.”
    Laurence looked into his eyes and saw the truth of his words shining back at her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, that she had never felt like this before, and that she wanted to be his for all time. But the words would not come.
    He sighed. “I suppose it was too much to hope you might feel this same.”
    “This is all so new to me—we are so new to each other,” she said. “Please, just give me some time to adjust.”
    “I will give you time,” he said. “But I won’t wait forever.”
    “I won’t make you,” she said, for the first time in her life making a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep.

Chapter Eleven
    Laurence found it difficult to concentrate on her work that morning. She had arrived at the office