“When I saw you for the first time in nine years, I realized my sentiments for you weren’t dead but merely dormant. All those old feelings resurfaced. Working with you was sheer torture. It nearly drove me mad.” Harry nuzzled her cheek.

“I find that hard to believe.” Elise snorted. “You had a new lady on your arm every time I ran into you in London.”

He straightened in his seat. “I needed to prove something to myself.”

“What, that you were still attractive to women?” Elise said, her tone dry as toast.

His eyes slid from hers. “Something like that.” Harry fidgeted with his watch, then retook her hand. “When we were made partners, I stopped dating altogether.” His thumb brushed the back of her hand.

“So did I,” Elise said softly.

That comment earned her another swift peck on the lips.

“I couldn’t believe you asked me to escort you tonight.” Harry eased back into his chair and crossed his ankle over one knee.

“Why?”

“I’m sure your parents preferred you to attend with one of the sons of their posh friends.”

“They are quite impressed with who you’ve become.” Mother had practically fawned over Harry.

He took her chin in his hand. “Would it matter to you if I hadn’t taken this path?”

“Not one whit,” she answered defiantly.

His mouth swooped down on hers, the kiss both tender and terrifying in its unspoken pledge.

After a time, Harry let her go. “Are you willing to give this thing between us a chance to see where it leads?”

Her mind stilled. What if their jobs separated them for months at a time? What if he wanted marriage? More children? A mother for Sammy? The worries rose within her, like a swarm of midges, buzzing like a dark cloud.

She wasn’t domestic—never had been. She played with the gold frogging on his epaulettes and looked into his eyes. His soul was laid bare. How could she deny him when her own heart yearned for the same?

Elise swatted back her worries; she’d deal with them later. “Aye. I want it too.”

Even as she said the words, Elise withered a wee bit inside. Harry might represent the embodiment of everything her heart desired, but she was fairly certain she was not what Harry needed—not in the least.

He lifted her hand and kissed the palm, folding his hand over it in an oddly protective gesture. A hard knot formed inside her throat, and tears stung behind her eyelids.

Someone’s throat cleared. Elise turned and met McFarlane’s frown. Every fluttery happy emotion inside her died an instantaneous death.

“What is it, McFarlane?” she asked, forcing herself to behave coolly.

“Master Sammy is asking for Captain Benson.”