It wasn’t until he said the word that she realized just how very much she didnotwant to be Lucien’s friend.
Friends didn’t yearn to feel the heat of their bodies pressed together. Or kiss each other. Or spend an inordinate amount of time wondering what the other looked like naked.
At least, not any friend she had ever had.
Alex certainly never thought about Will that way. Even when she proposed to him.
No. These feelings for Lucien were decidedlyun-friendly.
So stop being a coward andtellhim.
Alex sighed and leaned her forehead against the mirror’s cool glass. She could accept that he was attracted to her. But would her pride allow her to accept being second in his heart to Freddie?
“I don’t know,” she whispered in the quiet of the room. She hated this feeling of weakness. Of uncertainty. She had felt this way once before and had resolved never to put herself in such a position ever again.
Only one option remained. She must tell Lucien how she felt and exactly what she wanted. Master this desire before it consumed her.
She stepped out into the hall and marched toward the lecture room with a newfound determination. But she hadn’t taken more than a few steps before an all-too-familiar voice called out from behind her.
“May I have a word, Miss Atkinson?”
The chill that ran through her brought her to a halt.
Though his voice was as smooth as silk, she well knew it wasmore a demand than a question. For Benjamin never took “no” for an answer. Except once. And Alex had paid for that quite dearly.
She turned around and cast him her most withering look. The one that reliably made grown men cower. “What do you want?”
But he only smiled as he strolled toward her. “Come now. Is that any way to greet your first love?”
Alex rolled her eyes. “You are nothing of the sort.”
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself to carry on, so be it.” He gave her a smug little smile that turned her stomach.
Good Lord, how had sheeverbeen attracted to this man? Alex longed to give her younger self a much-needed dressing-down for falling for such shallow charms. She lifted her chin. “You know very well that I am involved with someone.”
“Yes, the boy,” he said with a dismissive flick of his hand. “That’s what I want to speak to you about, actually.”
“Well, I don’t want to speak with you at all. Aboutanything.” She then turned on her heel and continued back down the hallway. No doubt Benjamin would interpret her utter disinterest for hurt, but she didn’t care.
“Oh, I think you will want to hear what I have to say very much, Alexandra.”
She hesitated at the warning in his voice and couldn’t help looking over her shoulder. Benjamin remained in the same spot, but the look he gave her brought her to a complete stop.
He knew. She didn’t know how, but heknew.
She faced him and crossed her arms. “Out with it, then. I must return before Mr. Taylor begins to worry.”
Benjamin chuckled as he approached her.
“I had my suspicions from the first. But it wasn’t until I had avery interesting conversation with your sister at the Langhams’ last week that I became certain that this was nothing more than a farce.”
Alex’s mouth went dry. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Benjamin tilted his head. “Don’t you? Admittedly it took a few generous cups of Lady Langham’s famous punch to get anything out of the chit, but once I mentioned you and your little paramour, she was all too willing to express her… let’s say, ‘skepticism,’ over the pairing.”
Alex swallowed.
“I knew you could be ruthless when it came to business, Alexandra, but I never thought you would stoop so low as to keep your own sister apart from her true love.”
