My Cherie Amour

CHAPTER THREE

The young man she was currently dancing with only left her in a worse mood. Oh, she smiled and said all the right things, but the man was simply boorish. She had to maneuver his hands away from her bottom more than once. She casts side looks for one of her brothers. She needed to get away.

"May I cut in?"

Cherie wanted to cry in relief. One fierce look at the boor she had been dancing with and the younger man scurried away, leaving her in the arms of the only one she wanted to dance with in the first place. She was careful not to appear too happy he had finally left his post from holding up the wall. He had made her wait after all.

"Well I suppose I have no choice but to dance with you, since you ran off my current partner." She threw the pout she had practiced in the mirror at him to show her displeasure. Not that she was fooling him at all. His lips were quirked in that devilish grin of his, making her heart speed as she struggled to look put out.

"We don't have to dance," Étienne whispered in her ear. "We can take a walk in the garden. Will you walk with me, Cher?"

Cherie shivered as Étienne's hand made a slow trek down her spine to rest at the small of her back. He had never asked her to walk with him before. In fact, he'd never done more than dance once with her at any gathering. He had always been careful to be respectful and circumspect. What was so different now?

"And why would I so that?" Because she had dreamed of such a thing most of her life. Because Étienne was strong and handsome and made her feel as if she had a colony of butterflies in her stomach.

She had expected more banter, at least some gentle teasing. Instead, he lead her steadily toward the French door that led outside. She had never seen Étienne like this. He didn't stop until they were deep in her mother's garden away from the guests.

"What is this about, Étienne? I shouldn't be out here; my parents will be looking for me..."

Her protests were cut off as his lips claimed hers, but not in any way Cherie was familiar with. His lips moved over her own, coaxing her mouth open for the invasion of his tongue. She swallowed a gasp at the unexpected invasion, her body tingling all over. She didn't understand the sensations roaring to life within her, or her need for more. More what? The kiss was unlike her wildest dreams. Étienne held her unlike he ever had before. Her breasts were smashed against his chest, his arms holding her in an embrace she couldn't break it had she wanted to. But then, she didn't want to.

All too soon, he lifted his lips, resting his forehead against her own. "Ah, Cher you try my control. I didn't bring you out here for this."

"Did you not?" She didn't know where the words came from.

The way he looked at her now. She had no idea what it meant, but she felt something in her core burn, there were feelings coursing through her she couldn't place, couldn't begin to understand.

"You are natural born temptress, aren't you, Cher? And here I am trying to propose like a proper gentleman."

Cherie's heart skipped a beat. She was not so ignorant as to not understand what Étienne was offering. He wanted to marry her!

"Mon péres..."

"I have spoken to your fathers, Cher. Both of them." Her eyes widened as Étienne dropped to his knees. "The rest is up to you. Will you do me the great honor of being my wife?"

It seemed like he produced the ring out of nowhere. A beautiful diamond as big as a pecan set in gold. Tears sprang to her eyes as he placed it on her shaking finger. T he one thing she had always dreamed. Étienne was asking to marry her!