Page 58 of The Not So Perfect Duke

Damon took the tray and kicked the door shut as Mrs. Bartle moved away to head downstairs. “Is your cousin here?” Damon asked.

Althea sat upright and wiped her nose. “No, she is out on a divorce case.”

“A cup of tea? I will even pour it for you,” he teased, hoping to get at least a fragment of a smile.

“I can’t drink it right now. All I want is for you to hold me again.”

“Say no more.” Damon sat the tray on the side table, then removed his coat and tossed it aside. He sat upright on the bed, his back against the headboard. “Come, let me hold you.”

Althea crawled up to sit next to him, and he slipped his arm about her shoulders, bringing her in close enough that her head rested against him.

“All I can think of is part of that conversation we had last year regarding Christian’s case,” she whispered miserably. “You said, ‘You seem a little too curious about my private sex life, Miss Galway. What do you believe—that I have a deviant bent along the lines of engaging in sex with those with limbs missing?’ That may be me: a limb gone. How ironic that the Galway Agency’s first major case involved a sawed-off leg.”

“A caustic observation. Please listen to me. We are friends, are we not?” Althea nodded. “Then I shall speak frankly, as a good friend would do. Let us suppose the worst occurs, and it is determined that part of your lower leg must be removed. You will still be alive, and you can still live a full life.”

Althea sniffled quietly. “I know this is self-indulgent, but my life will never be the same. All my plans for the agency—”

“Can continue onward. Chasing a villain down an alleyway brandishing your pistol may be out of the question, but everything else? You can still do it. Interviews, the general management of the agency, and taking on clients. You told me you would hire more people to do the legwork, no pun intended.”

Althea laughed shakily.

“There, see? Not all is as terrible as you think. I told you last night I am falling for you, Althea. Do you think I care if part of your leg is removed? If it saves your life, then so be it. If you had to have both legs removed, I would carry you around until I am too old and weak to do so.”

“Oh, Damon. You say that now.”

He turned slightly to look into her eyes. “Do you believe I am so shallow, so devoid of feeling, that I would turn from you in your hour of need? That I would reject you?” He took the handkerchief from her and gently dabbed at the tears trickling down her cheek. “Never. All I care about is your well-being. Quite the confession from such a deviant rogue, but it is true. For once in my selfish life, I will put others before my own needs. But the person I most wish to support, care for—and love? You, my Thea. Only you.”

Althea burst into tears.

Damon’s heart tumbled seeing her in such distress. But he held her close until she had no more tears to shed. How long they stayed like this, Damon had no idea. How right she felt in his arms. How absolutely perfect.

Sniffling, Althea sat upright, wiping her eyes. “I feel foolish, carrying on so,” she whispered.

“See that closed door? What goes on behind it when we are alone is no one’s business. All that matters is—us. Together. We shut out the outside world.”

“You are speaking as if we are a couple,” Althea murmured.

“And why not? Why shouldn’t we give it a go? Unless your feelings for me are not serious at all. You should tell me now to avoid smashing my little-used heart to complete bits.”

She stared at him, sadness swimming in her red-rimmed eyes. “Oh, Damon. I didn’t count on you coming into my life. My feelings are in complete disarray. Of course, despite my horror, I was attracted to you from the first.”

“Oh, thank you very much,” Damon said sarcastically.

“You were not likable at all. Not at the beginning. Yet, I wanted to know more about you, to scratch below the handsome perfection to see if a human being resided there.”

“And what have you discovered?”

“That you are human after all, complicated, a bit egotistical, somewhat arrogant, but also a little damaged, as we all are from life. You care about people far more than you let on. We’ve become friends against all the odds. You have a heart, Damon. And I could fall for you very easily.”

A feeling of dread settled deep inside him. “But?”

“I am a mess and cannot explore my feelings for you until other issues are resolved. Is that horribly selfish? It sounds it to my ears. I need order in my life, and everything is upended, a complete jumble.”

Althea turned to face him, cupping his cheek as she often did. Her touch seared, heating his skin, and that intense warmth traveled deep within him.

Regardless of his physical reaction, he did not like the sound of this.

It appeared she did not care for him as much as he did for her. It would be an apt reward for all his arrogant dalliances to finally fall in love with a woman and have her soundly reject him. Damon had the distinct notion that a broken heart would not be something he would snap back from any time soon.