AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Such as?”
“Wondering why my dearest friend refuses to help me find a husband?”
HARRY WASN’T SURE HE knew her at all any longer. The Louisa he’d known thought out her actions in a logical manner. Her only reckless activities involved meeting him on a terrace or in a garden alone to talk.
“You should never have come out here, Louisa.”
“Where should I have gone then...to Ainsley?”
He barely contained a growl at the thought of her with Ainsley. “No, of course not. Why can’t Tessa find you a husband? No one believes she’s cursed now. And everyone knows who murdered her late husbands.”
She rose and then stared down at him with anger in her glassy eyes. “Tessa is the reason I cannot find a husband.”
“How so?”
“Your father’s death letter only confirmed that she wasn’t cursed or a murderess,” Louisa continued her outburst. “It did nothing about the fact that she’d continued to marry men who were of increasing rank. They blamed her for that, not your father.”
Harry rose to stand in front of her, his anger rising with this never-ending quarrel. “She only married those men because my father recommended them to her to increase her position in Society.”
“No one cares about that,” she replied, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Who is going to blame a duke when you can blame the daughter of a banker? After all,” she mimicked a disdainful voice of quality, “perhaps those men got what they deserved for not marrying someone from ‘good’ Society.”
He flinched, knowing she was likely correct. But being mere inches from her was doing terrible things to his mind and body. Her eyes were blazing in anger. Her chest raised and lowered in uneven bouts. And while she’d clearly had too much to drink, she wouldn’t back down.
Why couldn’t she realize he was the wrong person to help her for so many reasons?
“I am not coming to town to help you,” he finally said.
“Then you shall have to marry me in five months when you turn thirty.”
“I cannot marry you.” He leaned closer, breathing in the heady scent of lilac mixed with brandy. Her tongue swiped across her full lower lip, distracting him to no end.
A kiss.
He couldn’t.
Kiss her. You wanted to for years.
He really shouldn’t. But his head moved even closer to hers. Toward her lips. Rosy, full and ready to be kissed. Her pink tongue slid across her lower lip, tempting him even more. For years, he’d imagined what she would taste like...sweet like sugar with maybe a hint of tanginess from the brandy. She would be an overwhelming sensation he’d remember all his life.
Her eyes widened, and her mouth gaped as if realizing his intention.
He couldn’t do this. Kissing Louisa would only make her believe there was a chance he would marry her. He lifted his head abruptly as if he’d been burned from getting too close to a flame.
“Leave, Louisa,” he commanded, pointing to the door.
“Leave?” She sounded confused.
“Yes.” Before he made a mistake that they both would regret.
“Oh, I’ll go,” she replied tartly. “But don’t think for one moment that this is over.”
It was over between them when he left for India. The day his life changed forever.
“WAKE UP, PAPA!”
“Stop bouncing, and I might open my eyes.” Could it be morning already? He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands.
Charlotte sat perfectly still until he opened his eyes. “Why did you let her go?”
