It was a confession I had never expected to hear from any man. That it fell from Merlyn’s lips was even more astonishing. I stared at him, but he smiled slowly, nigh daring me to believe him.
Love?
I pulled my hand from Merlyn’s and stood, needing distance between us. I paced across the chapel, then turned to face him, my arms folded across my chest. He seemed so sincere.
But then, was that ability not key to his trade?
“You never said as much before.”
“I had to lose you to appreciate the prize that had slipped through my fingers,” he said. “You had to leave me that I could know you possessed my heart.”
My heart fluttered. I wanted to believe him. Part of me was prepared to surrender fully and immediately. But I could not help recalling that his success in his father’s trade was root
