Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,99

so happy. I don’t … I don’t believe I deserve it.”

“Because of me?”

“Because of everything. There hasn’t been much room for joy in my life, not for a long time. So long, I forgot the feeling. Until you.”

“Then I say you’ve earned every minute.”

“I think,” he started, pausing again. “I think I’ve been given a gift.”

“Don’t waste it.”

“Oh, I don’t intend to,” he said hotly.

And the kiss he laid on me all but guaranteed it.

31

The Sea and the Shore

LANEY

Two Months Later

Liam turned me around the dance floor at Wasted Words to Lionel Richie, and neither of us could seem to stop smiling.

Of course, where my smile was broad and frequently accompanied by laughter, Liam’s was a quiet thing that somehow still managed to change him into a creature of joy. A mischievous glint in his eyes, his brow smooth and cheeks a little higher than I was accustomed to. Those were the notable features, but the levity that clung gently to him was otherwise indefinable. It was as if he had lived in a land of unending rain and had seen the sun for the very first time. Now he carried it with him wherever he went.

The night had been long and lovely, another regency mixer. Liam had surprised me this afternoon with a new dress—a sky-blue empire-waisted shot-silk affair—as well as a chemise, stays, a petticoat, silk stockings, and matching shoes.

When posed with the why of it, his answer was, Something to complement your eyes, of course, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I wanted something to unwrap when we get home.

Georgie and I spent too long getting ready, curling the front section of our hair in barrels to frame our faces and twisting up the back into a virtual bouquet of ringlets. It took us a minute to figure out our stays—which were shockingly comfortable—but once we were set, the effect was some sort of magic.

Jett and Liam waited in the living room in their beautiful suits, cravats tied and scotches in hand as they chatted through their idle time. And when we’d set off, I’d been sad it was in a taxi and not a coach and four.

Two months had flown by, propelled by hope and happiness. The business with Catherine was behind us—Longbourne was back in action, and she had decided to live in a state of denial about the relationships of her niece and nephew, though Liam believed she’d eventually come around, the sentimental man that he was. But for the time, she wasn’t speaking to any of us, and she had no recourse for her grievances.

In the end, we’d gotten around the company clause quite simply.

Because Jett and I had gone back to Longbourne.

What do you want, Elaine?

My mother’s question had haunted me from the moment it left her lips. But it wasn’t until Liam that the answer became clear.

First, I wanted him—once I’d realized, there was only that directive. In the beginning, I worried we’d bicker like children, always at odds, always fighting for power. But we hadn’t gotten in a single fight. Not a minor tiff. Not a snap, not a jab, not a one. The closest we came was on the day I moved in, the dispute in regards to which side of the bed we claimed. Spoiler alert—I won.

The truth was, there was only an abundance of love between us, forged in that fire that had kept us apart for too long. We’d gotten all the wiggles out early, we supposed.

It was Liam who brought me around to the second thing I wanted. It was on a night when we lay in bed, our limbs tangled and our breath slow, my head resting on his chest, listening to his rumbling words as he spoke. He’d known what I wanted before I did, seeing it the first time he was prisoner to a Bennet dinner, when all twelve chairs were full. My mother beamed at the sight of Liam and Georgie on our arms. My father quietly assessed and approved—the two of them were so much alike, I wondered if Dad had once brooded the way Liam did. My siblings were welcoming, the whole night a long and lovely exhaustion. Liam hadn’t said much, just sat with that inescapable smile on his face, occasionally laughing and always watching.

When he told me I wanted to work at Longbourne that night in bed, I was sure my mother had gotten to him—which she had, but not about that. Liam held my