A Valentine from Harlequin

realized that she did.
    She plucked a morsel of chicken from the plate and held it out to him. He snatched it with his teeth, but her fingers lingered, brushing his mouth in a soft caress.
    He swallowed, his eyes never leaving hers. “Do you still want me then, love? Is that what this is?”

Chapter Five
    She tried desperately to focus on his words, but his firm, luscious mouth was so very close. “Y-yes,” she whispered.
    He gave her a pained smile. “I thought you’d given up on me. Your broken heart mended so quickly. You moved on to Rotham a month later.” There was no accusation, no censure in his tone, just genuine confusion.
    She shrugged and tried to explain that which made no sense to her now. “Then I’m a better actress than I gave myself credit for. I never stopped loving you. And with Rotham, at first I figured, why not? I’d already found my one true love and he wouldn’t have me. Why waste time searching for something I knew I’d never find again? Rotham seemed as nice a fellow as the next. I’d have a chance for the child I’d always wanted, and you would still be in my life, in a fashion. There were worse things I could imagine than that.”
    She shook her head slowly. “But I couldn’t go through with it. Right before the fire, I was going to break it off with him. That’s why I harbored so much guilt after the fire. The investigator ruled that the accident was my fault, but also, I was going to tell him we couldn’t marry.” She looked away, embarrassed by the tears glossing her eyes.
    “Ah, damn it, Charlotte. I didn’t refuse you because I didn’t love you.” Alistair’s voice was a whisper and she had to strain to hear him. “I refused you because I couldn’t bear the thought of denying you your dreams.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I’ve told you, I was married before, almost a decade ago when I lived in France. Annabelle died from a fever in our fourth year of marriage.”
    She’d hadn’t even processed his admission of love when her heart tripped at the pain in his voice. Somehow she knew what was coming, even before he spoke the words.
    “What I never told you was that we wanted a family as badly as you do now. For three years before her death, we tried to conceive. I don’t know if she was barren or if I was to blame, but by the time she fell ill, we barely spoke anymore. I was so weighed down by guilt, and she was so bitter and angry. Like a brittle shell of a woman, one blow away from cracking. I couldn’t bear the thought of doing that to you. Of waking up one morning to find you broken that way because of me.”
    Charlotte’s eyes burned with unshed tears as she tried to speak through the lump wedged in her throat.
    “Alistair, I—”
    He held up a hand and pressed on. “But when I thought you had been taken from me…that there was a chance that Rotham had hurt you, I nearly lost my mind. It was only the hope that you were alive that kept me from madness. What I know now is that what we have together can overcome anything. If we cannot have children of our own, then London has more than its share of children in need of love. We’ll find them together. I want to be with you for as long as you’ll have me.”
    Her blood sang with joy. “I will have you forever, my love. That’s all I would ever want and more.”
    He met her gaze with a fierce one of his own. “I still envision a little girl with your smile, and your sharp mind. A boy with your adventurous spirit and your bravery. If it doesn’t happen, so be it, but I want to try.”
    His face held a calm resolve and her already full heart felt like a balloon about to burst.
    “The trying will be the best part! Yes, yes to all of that.” She bent low and pressed a kiss to his mouth. He strained forward, but she pulled away. “You are going to injure your wrists again. If we want to get out of here, we’ve got to get moving. Trust me when I say this is the last time I shall ever refuse you, my love.”
    He sucked in a breath and nodded. “You’re right. Get the copper nitrate and mix the compound.”
    * * *
    Five hours later, she returned to Alistair’s side. She’d done it, with barely a moment to spare. The goggles were complete. “One more kiss. Just in case something goes wrong.” She leaned down and kissed him for all she was worth. As she pulled away, footsteps sounded in the hall.
    She stepped back and strode to the closest worktable, scooping up the