Don't Want You Like a Best Friend (Mischief & Matchmaking, #1)

by Emma R. Alban

Any of them might feel lucky to have her. But she doubts she’ll feel as lucky in return to be had.

She thinks Beth’s likely to be a more amiable partner, and far nicer to look at.

She won’t be beaten. She won’t be yelled at. She will not repeat what her mother endured. “No, she won’t,” Mother says, and Beth feels her heart plummet. But then Mother stands up. “If those are your conditions, Lord Ashmond, that my daughter submit to anything your son wants, without question, be it verbal or physical, or simply his abhorrent taste in unseasoned food, then we will have a problem.”

“I’m keeping you.” Beth presses closer, squeezing her waist. “Forever and always?” “Forever and always and eternity and infinity,” Gwen promises, a rush of heady, desperate joy descending through her shock that makes her pull back to see Beth’s face. “For centuries, and eons, and epochs?” Beth asks, her eyes sparkling. “For every season, and year, and decade, and—” She’s halfway onto bended knee before she even thinks about it.