Free Christie Kelley by Every Night Im Yours Page B

grow up knowing you would someday inherit the earldom?” she asked.
    “Actually, I was born the second son.”
    “You were? I had no idea you had an older brother. Jennette never mentioned having another brother.” She sipped her wine hoping he would continue.
    Banning shrugged. “Jennette doesn’t really remember him. Geoffrey died when she was only four. Besides, unless Geoffrey impacted her shopping life it is unlikely that she would have even noticed him.”
    “Banning!”
    “You must admit it’s true,” he said with a lopsided grin.
    And it was. Jennette shopped more than any woman Avis had ever met. Luckily, her brother spoiled her rotten and never minded her expenditures.
    “Very well, it is true. So you were how old when your brother died?”
    “Eleven.” He glanced over at her and smiled. “And you still want to hear all about this, don’t you?”
    Avis nodded eagerly.
    “My father had a first wife who bore him a son, Geoffrey. Unfortunately, it became apparent as he grew older that he was afflicted with the same weak heart his mother had succumbed to years before. Geoffrey married at twenty-one and did his best to give Father an heir.”
    Banning sipped his wine before he resumed his story. “After a few years, his health deteriorated and he still had no son to inherit. My father decided he’d best marry again.”
    “My goodness, he must have been getting on in age by then,” she said.
    “He was well into his fifties when he met and married my mother.”
    “Your mother must have been quite young.”
    Banning shrugged. “Yes, but it was the typical marriage of the day. The union strengthened both families.”
    “No love, just money and position,” she added.
    “Yes,” he said stiffly.
    Avis wondered how he really felt about his parents’ marriage and about love in general. Jennette had told her that her parents loved each other madly. She almost asked him but stopped. Personal topics such as love and marriage were not subjects they should discuss. It mattered not to her. Most men she knew believed love had nothing to do with marriage. Position, money, and land strengthened a marriage. Perhaps they did. Her mother had married for love and it certainly hadn’t made her happy.
    Sometimes in the dark of night, she wondered if all marriages were as dreadful as her parents’. Or if two people could truly fall in love and stay in love for a lifetime.
    She highly doubted it.

Chapter Eight
    “Wake up,” a deep voice whispered in her ear, drawing Avis from her peaceful nap.
    She kept her eyes closed for minute, savoring the feel of her head resting against Banning’s strong chest and the sway of the carriage. His hand gently caressed her hair. After talking most of the night away, she’d fallen asleep soon after they left in the morning. Quite a nice way to spend a day, tucked firmly in his arms.
    “I know you’re awake.”
    She could almost hear the smile that must be on his face. Keeping her eyes closed, she thought about his smile. He had two deep dimples and white teeth that would be perfect except for the way the bottom front teeth overlapped ever so slightly. She liked that imperfection in him. No one should be too perfect.
    “Avis,” he whispered.
    “Go away,” she muttered against his lapel.
    He chuckled softly. She could stay here all day, in his arms with his heart beating in her ear and his hand caressing her hair.
    The carriage rolled to a stop.
    A stop!
    They had arrived at his home, and she was still sitting on his lap. Avis scrambled to the seat across from him, quickly smoothed her hair and replaced her bonnet.
    “You look perfect,” he said with a grin.
    “I must look as though we’ve…”
    “Not yet, but you will.”
    She blasted him an angry scowl. “You are a beast.”
    “I know,” he answered with a boyish grin. He tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and winked at her.
    Banning jumped down, then reached back inside to assist her. The scent of