Rose in Bloom (Sex and the Season #2)(82)

Cam groaned. “Can’t we just stay here? I want to love you again.”

“How many times has it been this morning? Are you steam powered?”

“Love powered.” He gently set her down on the brocade sofa and gathered her discarded garments. “I need to take care of you. But I don’t have anything to clean you with.”

“Here, just use these.” She handed him her drawers.

“What are you going to wear then?” He gently wiped the semen and juices from her body.

“I guess I’ll just have to go without.” She winked.

Cam’s eyes widened into saucers. “You expect me to sit across from your father and ask for your hand, knowing that you’re not wearing any undergarments?”

“Yes, yes,” Rose said. “That should make you very persuasive indeed.”

Cam chuckled, helping Rose with her stockings and shoes. “Persuasive? I’m likely to be a blathering idiot. I won’t be able to think straight.”

Rose stood and straightened her dress. “Is my hair all right?”

Cam tucked a few stray ends behind her ears. “I think you should pass muster.”

“Very well, then. Shall we?”

As they walked out of the conservatory and toward Daniel’s study where they were to meet her parents, Rose summoned a housemaid. “Meghan,” she said, “the piano in the conservatory needs to be polished and dusted.” Then, tossing her soiled drawers, “And put these in the laundry.”





Chapter Seventeen


The Earl of Ashford sat behind the duke’s mahogany desk. The countess and Lily were on the red velvet settee next to the desk. The tension hit Rose as she and Cameron entered. Lily gave Rose a calming grin and stood.

“No, Lily, please stay.” Rose gestured.

“All right.” Lily sat back down next to her mother.

Ashford cleared his throat. “Mr. Price, Rose. It’s not every day that I’m summoned to a meeting by a commoner. Exactly what is your business with me?”

Cameron inhaled deeply and looked at Rose. She showered him with all the love she possessed, hoping he could see it in her eyes.

“My lord, I wish to marry your daughter.”

Lady Ashford inhaled sharply.

“Pardon me?” Ashford raised his brow.

“I want to marry Rose,” Cameron said again.

“I have little time for jokes, Mr. Price.”

“This is no joke, Papa.” Rose took Cam’s hand. “We are in love and we wish to marry.”

“Do be quiet, Rose,” Ashford said. “This is no concern of yours.”

“No concern of mine? Are you serious?” Rose’s nerves vibrated under her skin.

Lady Ashford pleaded with her eyes for Rose to be quiet. Rose inhaled, trying to calm herself.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow my daughter to marry a commoner,” Ashford said to Cameron.

Cam wiped his free hand nervously on his trousers. “My lord, I assure you that I can take care of her.”

“Really? Just what do you have to offer my daughter?”

“My love, most importantly.”

Ashford rolled his eyes. “You can’t live on love, Price.”

“Papa—”

“Enough, Rose. Let him speak his piece,” Ashford said.

Cameron cleared his throat. “I have a post as the house composer for the new Regal Theatre.”

“We heard his music last evening, Papa,” Lily said. “It was very well received.”

“And I can take private commissions.”

“And you expect to support my daughter in the manner she has become accustomed to as a theatre composer?”

“Well, perhaps not in the manner you have supported her, but—”

“I’m sorry, Price. It’s out of the question.”

“Papa,” Rose said. “We are in love, and we are going to marry.”

“You would defy my decision?”

“To be with the man I love, yes, I would,” Rose said.

“Well, that’s all fine and well,” Ashford said, “but you’re forgetting one tiny detail. You’re not of age, Rose.”

“I’ll be twenty-one in two months!”

“Until then, you require my permission to marry, and I will not give it.”

Rose looked pleadingly at Lily.

“Papa,” Lily said, “Daniel and I are acquainted with Mr. Price and his family. He is a good man, and he loves Rose.”

“I don’t need anyone to defend me,” Cameron said.

“Lily was just trying to—” Rose began.

“Yes, I know,” he said. “I mean no offense, Your Grace. I’m not used to having to sell myself.” He turned to Ashford. “I may not have been born a peer, my lord, but I love Rose more than anything in the world. She refused Xavier because she’s in love with me.”

“You are no doubt aware of her dowry?”

“I don’t give a damn about her dowry!”

Rose squeezed his hand, hoping he understood.

“Forgive me, my lord. I should have controlled that outburst.”

“You’re saying that you would marry her if she didn’t have a dowry?”