A Perfect Proposal. Liz Fielding

excuse to evade the issue.

      ‘I think Shuli could be relied upon to see off any pretenders.’

      That, at least, raised a smile. ‘Yes, I suppose she would.’ He sat back, regarded her across the broad desk. ‘You’ve thought this through, haven’t you?’

      ‘Of course. I wouldn’t come to you with some half-baked plan.’

      ‘No.’ He continued to regard her thoughtfully. ‘Tell me, Jane, would you settle for a platonic marriage?’

      This was it. The opening she’d been waiting for. She swallowed. ‘Are you asking me?’ she replied, her voice perfectly calm even while her heart was pounding loud enough to be heard in the next county.

      ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I want to know if you’d marry a man who wasn’t in love with you?’

      She shook her head. More hair slithered from the grip of pins unequal to the task. ‘No, Mark. That wasn’t my question.’ He frowned, and she very nearly lost her nerve. It wasn’t too late to bottle out…‘My question was…are you asking me if I’d marry you?’