Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Graham
I want her.
As a friend, a confidant, a wife. I wanted to dine with her, dance with her.
I wanted to spend my nights with her in my drawing room, my study, in my bed.
I wanted all of her.
And I was finally unafraid to admit it.
I somehow managed to fall asleep with Tabs burrowed into my back, pushing me to the edge of my mattress, and I awoke with greater purpose than ever before.
I wanted to court Anna Lane.
An impossible feat, really, but I’d tackled the impossible before. And after our dance, after last night, I knew things between us had shifted. I could have sworn last night, she’d leaned in almost like she’d wanted me.
And that changed everything.
Anna wanted her relationships separate from her father’s wealth and connections. I could do that. If she’d take me as I was, knowing how we lived and what we lacked, I’d abandon the whole Brighton investment proposal. I could find another way to create a future, keep our earnings on an upward climb. One that did not involve her father’s interference.
We were secure. We had enough to live on, though the living I could provide would be nothing compared to Anna’s father’s. Perhaps I’d gone mad, but Anna hadn’t seemed to mind our lacking this past week. Slowly, carefully, over time I could create a more solid future. Things would only grow brighter from here.
Indeed, I did not need the investment. Not like I needed Anna.
Anna was air to my lungs. Being with her was like walking along the beach just as the sun crested the earth. Captivating, enlivening, and so unbelievably beautiful.
Together, if I could convince her, we’d find a comfortable balance. I’d sacrifice whatever she asked. If she’d take me.
For the first time in my life, I held the world in my hands.
I had nothing, yet everything, all at once.
Courting Anna would be a risk. The odds were, at best, sixty percent in my favor. But I wanted this life. I wanted her.
And when I wanted something, I’d do almost anything to get it.