Page 44 of The Duke’s Wager

“You don’t have to say that. I mean… of all the people in this world, you are the last one who needs to apologize for my loss.”

“Still.” The voice came closer. “I am sorry.”

Something brushed against him, and Edward’s breath hitched in his throat. Slowly, as though he were in a trance, he opened his eyes.

Lucy’s face was close to his. Green and aquamarine met, and in that moment all masks were dropped. Edward could stare right into her soul.

And he was just as certain that she could stare right into his.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

She was beautiful – this, Edward had known for years. Even as a child, he had been old enough to notice that the girl comforting him was a rare beauty. In this moment, however, she seemed more beautiful than ever – and utterly foreign to this place.

The cemetery, as much as it brought him peace, was a cold, dark place. It was filled with loss and misery. But she was the antithesis to that. In this dark, forgotten place, Lucy was the sun.

You have one month to seduce and bed the Ice Queen herself, Lucy Beaumont.

Julian’s voice suddenly came to him, infringing on his sacred time with his parents’ memories – and yes, admittedly, his sacred time with Lucy.

Again, he was struck by her beauty. The doll-like face was close enough to him to reach out and kiss her, and by God, he wanted to.

The realization struck him suddenly, like a fist to the stomach. He was happy. Happy that Julian had chosen Lucy for the bet.

She was certainly not like the usual women he encountered. In fact, he was quite certain that he had never met a woman who was anything like her. She was a delightful puzzle, one he could not wait to solve.

Right now, however, was far from the time, and it was most certainly not the place for it. In this cemetery, existed only her beauty and his grief. Here, they were not Lady Lucy Beaumont and Lord Edward Lockhart.

I’m Lucy Beaumont, and you?

I’m Edward Lockhart.

He suddenly tilted his head and looked at her curiously.

“Did we shake hands?”

She looked confused. “I’m sorry?”

Her voice was soft and tentative, and Edward rose to his feet, almost smiling.

“Back at my father’s funeral when we first met. Did we shake hands?”

Lucy frowned, thinking for a minute. She nodded, after a long-drawn-out silence.

“I believe we did, yes. You were quite the proper young man, even in the midst of your grief.”

“I never forgot you, you know.” Edward had no idea why he suddenly felt like admitting this. “Sometimes… in the years afterward,” he said, “when I felt at my most alone, I remembered the girl who sat with me and somehow… somehow that soothed my solitude. I don’t believe I ever thanked you.”

Lucy shrugged at this, clearly uncomfortable.

“No thanks necessary. I just did what anyone with a heart would have done.”

Edward rose to his feet slowly and shook his head. “Well… there were a lot of adults without hearts at that cemetery then.”

With his hand under her elbow, he guided her towards a little bench not far from his parents’ graves. Once they sat, the reality of it all struck him.

What was he to say? He couldn’t be too vulnerable and let her see him as less than a man, but it was far too late to keep his composure and flash his usual bravado.

For the first time in his life, Edward realized he had no idea what to say to a woman. It was only Lucy who brought the bumbling fool out of him.