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“Wow—a Shakespeare reference. I’m impressed.”
“Julia’s turned me on to some really good shit. Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen. Nora Roberts. I’ll never be as well read as you, you big nerd—”
“Hey. Eva happens to like this nerd.”
“—But love will find a way if it’s meant to be. Give Eva the time and space she needs to make her choice. I know it’s not what you want to hear right now. You’re giving off very strong ‘I want to jet off to the Pacific and marry this girl on a beach somewhere’ vibes. But y’all are adults now. You have responsibilities. Full lives. Jetting off isn’t an option. Being patient is.”
Grey is right. This isn’t what I want to hear. Not one fucking bit. I haven’t felt this way about a woman in years, and I’m ready to make my goddamn move already.
But he’s also right to tell me to pump the brakes a little. Take a breath. I can still enjoy Eva’s company. Still take her out and touch her.
Maybe then I can keep some of these feelings in check.
Keep myself from getting hurt again. Because after losing my wife, my marriage, practically my whole life four years ago—
How much more hurt can I take?
How much more of myself am I willing to risk?Chapter SeventeenEvaTugging on his riding gloves, Edward was hit by a very clear, very explicit memory from the evening before.
It was Sophie’s face. Brow furrowed, an enormous smile on her lips as she climaxed around his manhood. She’d been lost to pleasure, lost to him, and in that moment, he’d been lost to her too.
His gut clenched as he wrapped the reins more tightly around his knuckles. He would not let it happen again.
Could not let it happen again.
“Mind if I join you?”
He startled, nearly falling off his horse when the woman in question appeared at his elbow astride a chestnut mare. Looking more delectable than ever in a red velvet riding habit and smart little hat, Ophelia trotting merrily beside her.
Damn her.
She grabbed him by the elbow, steadying him in the saddle. “You’re awfully jumpy, aren’t you, my Lord?”
He cleared his throat. “I ride alone.”
“But you cannot race alone. And racing is far more fun than merely riding.” Her eyes flashed. “Except—”
“Except in bed. I may be jumpy, but you, my Lady, are indecent.”
“And you like it. One of the many reasons why I shall continue my indecency until further notice.”
He looked at her. She looked back. Challenging him.
When was the last time someone looked at him this way? He was used to people wanting something from him. Used to flattery, to empty chit chat, to calculating stares from across the room.
But this? A woman looking at him not with calculation but with genuine heat and mischief?
“First one to that fence out there”—he pointed—“gets to bend the other one over it.”
And then he took off.
Her laughter rippled through the air as she followed him, the thunder of her mare’s hooves echoing inside his chest. Glancing to his right, they met eyes. She smiled.
Dash it all, so did he.
She wasn’t using him.
Wasn’t using his kindness toward her as a weapon or bargaining chip.
She was just laughing with him. Enjoying a rare sunny September morning, the two of them hurtling through his fields like they were naught but careless children.
Is this what love was supposed to feel like? Not foolishness, not a game, but freedom and fresh air?
When she drew up before the fence half a pace ahead of him, she shot him that enormous smile of hers over her shoulder. He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Oh, he wanted this woman. Her body, yes. But her smile, too. Her indecency.
He wanted her in every way imaginable.
“You,” she nodded, breathless, at the fence. “Bend over. I’ve got some ideas.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. A big, deep belly laugh.
I listen to My Marriage to the Marquess on the ride home from Julia and Grey’s house. I stopped by to meet their new baby boy, Parker, and to drop off some food—recipe testing means I’ve got a lot of extra yumminess to share.
Grabbing a parking spot on the street, I shoot Ford a text. Listening to Lord Edward and Lady Sophie’s story always makes me think about him.
Eva: A couple things. First, I’m going to pass on this romance I’m reading. It’s so good, and I think you’ll like it.
Ford: Can’t wait to read it! It’s euphemism free I hope?
Eva: Yes. Second, did you get to meet baby Parker yet? I just left Julia and Grey’s house and can’t stop smiling. THEY ARE PARENTS HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!
Ford: I know right? Crazy to think how far they’ve come. I’m so happy for them. That baby is perfect.
Ford: Speaking of. Do you mind if I bring Bryce to the tasting on Saturday? No worries if not. I was just counting on my parents to babysit, but now they really want to come too. I don’t think I’m the only one in my family with a raging crush on you.
