‘Yes.’ She yelped as he swept her off her feet and swung her round, then kissed her so hard the world continued to spin around them.

‘You won’t regret it,’ he promised. ‘We’ll have a wonderful life.’

‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’

‘Trust me. It’s right for us.’

She did trust him. But she still felt surprised at what she was doing, still questioned whether it was right.

Chapter 5

After a long, slow breakfast, Megan took a deep breath and said, ‘I’d like to discuss the practicalities.’ She wasn’t going to be completely foolish about this.

He frowned. ‘All right.’

She deliberately chose to sit in a chair rather than next to him on the couch, because with his body touching hers there was no way she could think straight. ‘I – um, think it’s important to get our expectations of each other quite clear. I want our marriage to last.’

His voice softened. ‘So do I. Very well. You go first. What do you expect of our marriage, Megan?’

She swallowed hard, trying to sound calm and reasonable, when in reality she felt flustered and uncertain. ‘Well, I hope for a more interesting life than I would have if I stay in Upper Shenstead. And – and companionship. A family – later.’

‘You’re not expecting romance and roses? Because I won’t pretend about that. I simply don’t believe in love at first sight, let alone romantic love.’

His voice sounded clipped and his expression was scornful. ‘Of course not,’ she said. ‘We didn’t exactly meet and fall head over heels in love so you can’t call this a romance!’

She saw his expression relax a little. What did he have against romance, for goodness’ sake? ‘But if you want to buy me roses, I won’t object.’

He nodded, but his suspicious expression softened only slightly.

‘I do know one thing, though,’ she went on, for she had a personal concern about what some men expected of their wives. ‘I don’t want to be smothered in any relationship! I watch Sandy, and all she lives for is Jim and the baby. She’s stopped having any opinions of her own, because when she used to voice them, he would contradict her.’

Indignation rose in Megan. ‘She actually lets him think for them both! And my cousin Sarah is nearly as bad. It’s always “Don says—” and “Don thinks—”. So you should know in advance, Ben, that I’m not about to adopt your opinions wholesale or turn into a doormat.’ Of that she was quite certain, if nothing else.

His expression softened still further. ‘I would never expect you to parrot my views on life, Megan. In fact, I’d hate that.’

‘What do you expect from a marriage, then?’

‘A wife who’ll be loyal to me, that above all.’