An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons, #3)

by Julia Quinn

Sophie reached up and touched his face. “I love you,” she whispered. “I have always loved you. I think I loved you before I even knew you.”

“At the masquerade,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically shaky, “even before I saw you, I felt you. Anticipation. Magic. There was something in the air. And when I turned, and you were there, it was as if you’d been waiting for me, and I knew that you were the reason I’d stolen into the ball.”

“You are the reason I exist,” she said softly, “the very reason I was born.”

He loved her. Suddenly the world was a very simple place. He loved her, and that was all that mattered.

“You’re mine,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers as he slid inside. “You’re mine.” And much later, when they were exhausted and spent, lying in each other’s arms, he brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “And I’m yours.”

“And do you want to hear the funniest part?” he continued. “Do you know one of the reasons I was so hesitant to give my heart completely to you? I’d been saving a piece of it for the lady from the masquerade, always hoping that one day I’d find her.”

“I love you,” he said. It was all she needed.