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Alaric couldn’t bring himself to speak. He could only stare in silence.
‘Do you…like it?’ Charlotte’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
‘I like it very much,’ he answered. His voice came out slightly hoarse as he tried to hold back all his emotions.
He hadn’t really known how much it had hurt to lose such a tangible piece of the past. And the fact that his wife had guessed how much it would mean to him? Dangerous territory. He forced a smile onto his face and nodded. ‘Thank you, Charlotte. And Thornton,’ he added.
His brother met his gaze and smiled.
‘Shall we have our Christmas breakfast?’ Charlotte suggested. It seemed to be her way of breaking the heavy tension.
‘Not yet.’ He offered his arm to her. ‘You haven’t opened the other two presents from me.’
She took his arm and walked back with him to the drawing room, with Thornton trailing behind.
‘This one first,’ he said, offering her the larger package. She sat down again and began opening it. As soon as she caught sight of the gift, she began to laugh. ‘Socks?’
‘Silk stockings,’ he corrected. ‘Because you never told me what you wanted for Christmas.’
She traced the texture and offered him a soft smile. ‘They’re very nice.’
His wife was about to stand up when Alaric stopped her. ‘There is one last gift for you.’ He opened a drawer and withdrew a stack of papers, handing them to her.
‘What is it?’ She studied the ink drawings, her forehead furrowed. One by one, she flipped through the papers until understanding dawned and her mouth opened.
‘Alaric,’ she breathed. ‘Are these…?’
‘Plans for your summerhouse in the spring,’ he answered. ‘You said you wanted one, so I had them drawn up for you. But if you want to make any modifications—’
His words were cut off when his wife threw herself at him and kissed him on the mouth.
Charlotte had never done anything so reckless in her entire life. But the moment she’d opened up the summerhouse plans, she’d realised the magnitude of Alaric’s gift to her. And an impulse broke over her, to push aside the invisible boundary between them and kiss her husband properly.
He’d been so shocked by her gesture, he hadn’t reacted at first. But his mouth had been gentle against hers, even as she’d tasted his lips.
She waited a slight moment longer, wanting him to kiss her the way a husband kissed his wife. Especially now that he’d revealed something she’d never expected—that he had remembered their conversation in the garden maze and had fully understood what she truly wanted. A kiss was the only way she could express her overwhelming feelings of gratitude.
When she pulled back, the duke kept his hands at her waist. But the expression on his face appeared troubled instead of interested. Inwardly, she cursed herself. She’d broken Rule 5 by kissing him in front of his brother.
Her face was crimson, but she managed to murmur, ‘Thank you. For the summerhouse.’
He gave a nod and released her waist. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at either of the men. ‘I think the food is ready. We should eat, and then we can send the servants off to be with their families.’
Charlotte was entirely aware that she was talking too fast, but she needed the distraction from her own embarrassment.
Thornton seemed to catch on quickly. ‘I’ll go ahead and see if it’s ready. You can join me a little later.’ Without waiting for a reply, he left the room.
As soon as he was gone, she glanced towards the window. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you in front of him. I—I shouldn’t have kissed you at all.’
She was about to hurry out of the room when Alaric caught her by the waist again. ‘Tonight, I want you to come to my room. We will discuss our rules and how we want to proceed with the…consummation.’
He what?
She blinked a moment, staring at him. Wasn’t he angry at her for what she’d done?
Though every part of her wanted to protest that she wasn’t at all ready, she had given him her word that three weeks was time enough. Even though it wasn’t. Not by half.
‘All right,’ she answered. Her throat had gone completely dry, but her cup of chocolate was out of reach.
