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intimately against her own, she couldn’t think of anything else. Couldn’t stop wanting him.
    A bold idea came to her as she remembered something Drake had said earlier. She smiled, thinking it would solve all her problems, if she only had the nerve to propose it.

     
    Elena was sitting on the rug in front of the hearth, thumbing through a magazine, when Drake entered the room. She looked up, surprised to see him so early. It was usually well after dark before he made an appearance, if he showed up at all. Could it be that, after last night, he was as anxious to be with her as she was to be with him? The mere idea made her heart skip a beat. In all the world, had there ever been a man who was as tall and dark, as sinfully handsome, as the one who now stood before her?
    “Good evening, fair Elena,” he murmured, smiling.
    His voice flowed over her like silk, soft, sensuous.
    “Good evening, Drake. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
    “Shall I leave?”
    “No! I mean, it’s your home, after all.”
    “Indeed.” He regarded her solemnly, one brow raised. “Is there something you wish to say?”
    She blinked up at him. Did he know what she was thinking? But how could he? He couldn’t read her mind. Such a thing was impossible.
    He took a seat on the sofa, then gestured for her to join him. Suddenly nervous, she hesitated a moment before taking a place beside him. What had seemed like such a good idea late last night now seemed utterly ridiculous.
    “You look upset,” he remarked. “Is something amiss?”
    “Yes. No.” She twisted her fingers together to still their trembling.
    “Something obviously has you upset,” he remarked. “Why not tell me what it is? Perhaps I can help.”
    “Yes, you can,” she said, the words spilling out in a rush. “I don’t want to go back to my uncle, and I have nowhere else to go, and you live alone with no one to care for you, so I thought maybe, if it wasn’t too horrid a thought, that you might marry me. Not a real marriage, of course. It would just be in name only. . . .” she said, her words slowing as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
    “You want to marry me?” Of all the things she might have said, a proposal had never entered his mind.
    “Well, my marrying someone else to get away from my uncle was your idea, after all. I can cook and clean and wash your clothes, and . . .” She swallowed hard, her courage suddenly deserting her. “I won’t be any trouble.”
    Lifting one brow, he muttered, “Somehow I doubt that.”
    At his words, she bowed her head, her shoulders slumped in defeat. It had been a stupid idea. “If you don’t want to marry me, maybe you could lend me some money so I can take a bus to Brasov and find a job. I’ll pay you back, somehow, I promise.”
    “Elena?”
    She didn’t answer, refused to meet his gaze. He was a grown man, older than she was, refined, educated. Why would he want a wife in name only when he could probably have any woman he wanted?
    “Elena, look at me.”
    “No.” She was too embarrassed to face him.
    “Elena, I accept your proposal of marriage.”
    She lifted her head. “Do you mean it?”
    “Indeed, I do.”
    For a moment, she could only stare at him. She hadn’t really expected him to agree and now that he had, she wasn’t sure how to respond. “I promise to do my best to keep your house clean, and to make you happy, except for . . .” Her voice trailed off as her gaze slid away from his.
    “Never fear. I promise not to make any husbandly demands upon you unless you ask me to.”
    “Thank you, Drake.”
    “How soon do you wish to wed?”
    “Oh, there’s no rush,” she said. “We can have a long engagement.” The longer, the better, she thought. After all, an engagement was almost as good as a marriage for keeping her uncle at bay.
    “I think not.”
    “What’s the hurry?”
    “I have reasons of my own. Is tomorrow night too soon?”
    She blinked up at him. “Tomorrow night?”
    It