Australia: In Bed with Her Groom: Mischief and Marriage / A Marriage Betrayed / Bride of His Choice. Emma Darcy

      ‘A sense of belonging,’ she murmured.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘That must be…comforting.’

      ‘You can share it, too, Ashley. You and William.’

      She made no reply to that. She pointed ahead. ‘There’s the house. The one where people are out on the front balcony.’

      The Rolls Royce was definitely on show, Harry thought with a flash of irony, but status symbols were totally irrelevant to what was on his mind. The driveway to the Stantons’ double garage had been left clear, and he drove the Rolls into it for Ashley’s convenience. He switched off the engine and turned to her, reaching over to take her right hand and hold it.

      She looked at him, her eyes mirroring a fearful uncertainty, but she left her hand in his, perhaps needing the comfort of the contact. Without hesitation, Harry gave her one rock-solid certainty to hang onto.

      ‘I want to marry you, Ashley. Will you think about that while you mix with your friends tonight?’

      ‘Harry…’ It was a breathless little gasp as though he’d punched the air out of her lungs. Her eyes widened wonderingly.

      ‘Don’t answer me now. I just want you to know,’ he said with quiet seriousness. To imprint it firmly on her mind, he repeated, ‘I want to marry you.’

       CHAPTER TWELVE

      THE NEXT FEW moments were a blur to Ashley. The trip to England, Harry’s declaration on top of it followed by him playing the chauffeur, stepping out of the car to open her door for her and see her safely onto her feet…It was all happening too quickly for her. Now he was leaving her at this meaningless party to go home and play a war game with her son, and she didn’t have wits enough to stop him, to say she didn’t want him to go and leave her here alone.

      She stood, stupidly speechless, watching him close her door and move to the driver’s side, decisive in all his actions. He entered the Rolls, switched on the engine, reversed out of the driveway, and Ashley felt deserted in no-man’s-land.

      But, of course, she wasn’t. People were watching. People were waiting. People who had made up her world before Harry had swept into it. It was probably a good idea to remind herself of what she was leaving behind before she left it to go to England with Harry, before she made decisions that would affect the rest of her life. And William’s. She turned and walked up the steps.