“Why would you think otherwise?”
“You just do not seem the type,” she said, smiling as if at an inside joke which only she understood.
He frowned but said nothing, again focusing on his footwork.
She was different. That was immediately apparent. Even when they’d first met, he had sensed an oddity in her which he’d been drawn to for reasons he did not understand. The way she spoke up to her parents. How bold she was when she asked him about his motives. It should have angered him, to be spoken to like that. Only for some reason, it didn’t.
Soon, Hudson found his confidence, relaxing slightly as the two waltzed together. He could feel people watching him, whispers being had behind hands, but he did not care. He dared to meet his wife’s eyes, his stomach knotting to see her smiling. Dammit, he might have even said he was glad that she was enjoying herself.
“Careful now,” she said when she caught him watching her.
“What?”
“If I did not know any better, I might say that you are having a good time.”
“Is that so wrong?”
“I did not think you had it in you.”
He scoffed. “You presume too much.”
“Surely, you cannot blame me? Everything I know about you I have had to learn second hand.”
“And what have you learned?”
“Oh...” Her eyes flashed menace. “I do not think you would like what I have been told.”
“Is that so...?” He felt a pang of anger, hating that he was being spoken about so freely by others.
“However, I am willing to have my mind changed. I am rather nice like that. And something tells me that most of the rumors are either unfounded or highly exaggerated.”
“Is that what you think?”
“It is what I hope,” she said with a sense of earnestness. “And rumors tend to lead to assumptions. For example, based onwhat I know of you, I had just assumed you would be a horrible dancer. How wrong I was.” She winked.
It was taking him longer than he was proud to admit, but Hudson was beginning to understand that his wife was not mocking him. At least not in the sense that he should be upset. If anything, it seemed that she was playing with him, trying to coax out a side of him that he rarely showed.
Her jovial nature, and her tendency toward humor, reminded him a little of his brother, Elias. He often did the same when Hudson was in one of his moods, and only he had ever been able to get away with it.
In this instance... despite himself... Hudson found himself smiling.
“There it is,” she said quickly. “I was beginning to wonder.”
“Wonder what?”
“If you were capable of such a thing. Smiling, that is.”
It was all in good fun, Hudson knew. And it should not have affected him the way it did. But Hudson was the way he was for a reason, having been raised to believe that emotions and humor and even untamed happiness were weaknesses. He never begrudged his brother for acting this way, but Hudson had long since learned that you could not be a successful businessmanwho others feared and be well liked. The two simply did not coexist.
Despite himself, and despite how much he was enjoying the banter, Hudson’s face dropped suddenly, and his expression darkened.
“You would do well to remember that I do not appreciate being made fun of.”
She frowned, half-smiling, as if looking for the joke. “I was not...I did not mean—it was just a joke.”
“A joke I do not appreciate.”
“I...” She bit her lip, looking away with embarrassment. “I am sorry, Your Grace. It will not happen again.”
