Free Mistletoe Menage by Molly Ann Wishlade

Edward was
used to, Guy. I live modestly on my inheritance. It wasn’t a fortune to match
Edward’s. How could I hope to emulate the lifestyle that Edward was used to? I
feared that over time he would grow to resent me and I could not have borne
that.”
    “So you married Alfred?”
    Anne nodded. “My aunt introduced
us and he asked for my hand immediately. Marrying him offered me a way out—a
way to avoid leading Edward into a future he might have despised.”
    Guy grinned at Anne then glanced
behind her.
    “I would never have despised it had
I been with you, Anne!”
    Anne jumped as a familiar voice rang
out, promptly followed by heavy footsteps. She stared wide-eyed at Edward Moore
as he stood before her and Guy.
    “Edward! Where did you come from…?
How on…I mean why… I…”
    “All is well, Anne,” Guy soothed
as she gasped for air. She could not believe that her former love now stood
before her as she sat almost naked in her library, cradled in the arms of an
artist.
    Whatever would happen next?
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    Edward couldn’t take his eyes off
of Anne. He had instructed Guy to ensure that Anne told him what had happened
in her past and why she had married another. He had to know why she had
abandoned him, and now that he’d heard her explanation, he was in turmoil. Anne
had not deliberately betrayed him. His father, damn that man, was to blame for
her decision to wed another. He’d sent Perkins, that scoundrel of a lawyer, to
convince Anne to forget about marrying him. It made his blood boil just
thinking about how smug his father must have been.
    Guy had shown Anne the first two
paintings before Edward made his entrance. Just after his arrival, Guy had
unlocked the French doors to let Edward in, and he had hidden behind the
changing screen, waiting for the perfect moment to make his presence known. That
moment had been once he’d heard what he hoped was the truth.
    Now, his plans for Anne and her
ruination all seemed foul and abhorrent. How could he forge ahead and ruin her
when she had married another to save him… him …from
being disinherited. Unless she was lying. But then why
would she lie now? What would be the point?
    “Anne…” He stared into her
shimmering green eyes and the fact that she was on the verge of tears tugged at
his heart. “Is all that you said true?”
    She moved out of Guy’s embrace
and got to her feet then walked toward Edward. She held his gaze and he watched
as a tear burst from her eye and trickled down her cheek. He reached out and
smoothed it away before it reached her chin.
    “It is true, Edward. I didn’t
fight for you because I feared ruining your whole future. But I loved you.” Her
bottom lip wobbled and Edward felt something inside him unravelling, like
tightly wound cotton. As it came apart, he was overwhelmed by a sense of
incredible relief. So this was it, the thing that had overshadowed his days and
nights for what felt like a lifetime.
    “Anne, my sweet
Anne. I would have lived nameless and penniless with you. Did you not
know that?”
    She shook her head. “I knew you
loved me as I loved you, Edward. But poverty is bitter and I feared your
resentment. It might have grown and I could not bear for you to look at me with
anything other than love. It would have been an intolerable fate.”
    “And how…how do you feel now?” He
held his breath, wondering if it was possible to move on from where they were, after
all that had passed in between, to look to a new future together. Guy moved to
his side, took hold of his hand, and they stood before Anne, together, awaiting
her words—words that could make or break them in one instant.
    Anne glanced down at their joined
hands and frowned for a moment. Then realization crossed her face and she
smiled. “Are you…could it be that you…”
    Edward nodded. His heart sank as
he watched Anne biting her bottom lip. What would she think of him and Guy? Two men, friends and lovers. Two men both
in