"Did you really believe I'm settling with you because it is inconvenient? I can't believe you." Lauren didn't know if she should be amused or insulted.
"So you have loved me all this time, then?" Now he was getting smug.
Her cheeks flared. Thanks to the darkness, her flaring cheeks wouldn't be visible to Alec. Her loud heartbeat gave her away, though.
"I won't ask you to marry me again if not." She swallowed hard, staring straight into his misty eyes. Her voice was soft when she said the next words. "And to set things right, you are wrong. I care for you as much as you care for me. I'm… not just very vocal about it… but you should know by now why I have discarded my original plan to leave the castle. You see, I have grown to care for you more than I intended to…" She gasped as she silently said, "I have even grown to love you."
"Mmm," he mumbled as if he were thinking it through.
