Wesley collected his coat and made his way out into the night.
Max was wrong.He had to be.Thea looked at him the way she looked at any old friend—with warmth, maybe, but not want.Not the way Wesley imagined her when he was alone in his chamber stroking himself like a cad.
The carriage rattled through empty streets.Wesley leaned his head against the seat and closed his eyes, but all he could see was Thea.
What if Max was right?
The thought was dangerous.He'd spent the past couple of years convincing himself that Thea didn't want him.She'd proven him right when she’d accepted William's proposal.If he let himself hope now and he was wrong ...he couldn't survive that.Not again.
Chapter 5
Thea
Theahadn'tbeenbackto the Fox in three nights.How could she risk facing Wesley again disguised as Kit, when she didn't know what to do with what she'd heard?
She should have left the table.The moment Louis said her name, she should have excused herself and disappeared into the crowd before Wesley could say another word.Instead she'd sat there frozen, dealing cards with trembling fingers while the man she loved confessed everything she'd spent years longing to hear.
I want her.I've always wanted her.
The words had been playing on a loop in her mind ever since.In the bath.Over breakfast.In the quiet moments between conversations, her thoughts drifted back to that dim room and Wesley admitting what she'd never dared to hope.
And now she was standing in her mother's ballroom, watching him from across the room, and she still didn't know what to do.
Wesley had arrived with Louis and Max just after ten.He looked tired, she thought.All she wanted to do was cross the room and smooth the tension from his shoulders.But she couldn't do that.Not in front of everyone, and not when she was still carrying a secret that could ruin everything.
She'd heard him say he wanted her.But he didn't know she’d heard it.If he knew she'd been sitting across from him the whole time, hiding behind a cap and a rough voice, listening to every word ...it might ruin everything.
Thea knew she must tell him.But she still hadn’t found the words.To tell him she knew and felt the same meant she also had to tell him about her double life.She’d have to tell him how she had spent those evenings at the card table with him.And she wasn’t certain he would react favorably to any of it.
Thea danced with two gentlemen, but she hardly spoke to either of them.She made conversation with her mother's friends and pretended to care about the latest gossip.But the whole time, she watched Wesley.
Each time their eyes met, her pulse jumped.She felt more exposed than ever, certain that everyone could see the longing written across her face.
I thought she'd be happier without me.
God, they were both fools.Years of wanting, years of waiting, and it had all been for nothing.She could have had him this entire time.That was the cruelest tragedy of all.
She found him again standing near the doors to the terrace, alone for once, and Thea made her decision.
She couldn't tell him about Kit.Not here in the middle of her mother’s ball.That conversation would require much more privacy, in the event he reacted as she feared he would.What she could tell him was how she felt.She could give him the opening he needed, and they could stop dancing around this thing between them.
Whatever happened after that—whatever he thought when he eventually learned the truth—at least they would finally know what was possible between them.
She crossed the room before she lost her nerve.“Your Grace.You look like you could use some air.”
Wesley's eyes met hers.There was a desire in his eyes she hadn’t noticed before.What a bloody fool she’d been.“Thea.You’ve most certainly read my mind.”
She tilted her head toward the terrace doors.“Care to take a walk with me?”
He offered his arm without hesitation.“Lead the way.”
The terrace was empty, the night air cool against Thea's heated skin.She led him past the stone balustrade, down the steps, and into the garden.The music from the ballroom faded as they walked, replaced by the rustle of leaves and the distant splash of the fountain.
“I wanted to speak with you,” she said when they were far enough from the house that no one would overhear.“Alone.”
Wesley stopped walking.In the moonlight, his face was all sharp angles and shadows.His expression remained guarded.“That sounds ominous.”
“It's not.At least, I hope it's not.”Thea turned to face him.“Wesley, I—”
