40: Incoming friends

*Ben*

As I make my way toward the dining room, I have never been more grateful for an interruption in my life. I was on the verge of confessing that I more than like Skye; I hold genuine affection for her. Once those words are spoken there will be no going back on them.

In the library, I had voiced all the things I do not want as though that would stop her from delivering them. As though it is within her nature not to care, not to give. She returned the blasted allowance, offered to reduce her staff, and was concerned with my welfare.

Of course she is, I chastised myself until she provides an heir, she is in danger of losing all this. But the argument runs hollow and untrue. She had shown herself that first day. But not her complete self. She is composed of myriad facets, complex and intriguing. I can spend a lifetime striving to unravel the mysteries of Skye Archer.

Damn it all to hell if I don’t want that lifetime with her. I want her in my life until my hair turns silver and my