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Genevieve continued talking, but I was having trouble listening.
“Just a word of caution, though, Amelia,” she said, her voice suddenly serious.
I turned to look at her pretty face, unsure of whether to trust her words. Even though I wanted to ignore everything she was telling me, there was something well-meaning in her demeanor that told me to pay attention.
“One day, he just got tired of Georgia. It was like a flip switched, or something, and he was onto the next thing, without any thought to her feelings at all. She was young at the time and got hurt pretty badly. Take heed.”
I just stared at her, eyes wide. She was confirming all of my worst fears… crushing every tiny hope that had sprouted since I’d run into Will at Gracechurch Street weeks ago.
He was a rake. He had treated one girl badly, and he would do so again.
“Well,” Genevieve suddenly giggled, “I guess there are no hard feelings left between them.”
I spun around to see Will’s hand resting on Georgia’s shoulder. He leaned into whisper something in her ear, and I felt my insides freeze like icicles.
No. No, no, no, no.
How stupid could I be?
William Thorne was going to break my heart. He was going to tear it into a million pieces, and I was going to be left, destitute and alone, holding the shattered pieces in my hands.
I had to leave.
And so I did. I gave a curt nod and smile to Genevieve, who looked taken aback at my sudden departure. I strode quickly out of the room, suddenly feeling every eye on my plain dress and dishwater colored hair. I had to walk right past Will to get to the door, and as I passed him, I heard him call out my name in a drunken, jovial tone.
I ignored it.
I walked directly to the door and opened it, feeling only a moment’s hesitation as I stepped into the hallway and shut it behind me. My face was burning red, but the cool, relative silence of the hallway felt like an oasis.
I had only gone a few dozen steps when the door to the drawing room burst open again, and someone stumbled out into the hallway behind me. I kept walking, determined not to look back, until the footsteps got closer and suddenly a hand had grabbed me around the waist.
I was spun around, and I found myself draped across the arm of Will himself. I pushed myself up so that I was steady on my feet, facing him.
“Amelia,” he said, his voice velvety and laced with liquor.
He pulled me towards him, his strong hands finding my waist, and at first, I didn’t protest. I looked into his eyes, as blue as ever, and felt my heart skip a beat.
But I wasn’t drunk. I still had my full faculties about me. I gathered the willpower to twist out of his arms and jumped back a few feet, my expression betraying the hurt that I felt.
He dropped his arms to his sides, a look of confusion painting his face.
“I saw you with Georgia.” I said quietly, biting my lip as my heart threatened to beat right out of my chest.
His confused expression deepened, and then awareness dawned on him. He stepped forward and put his arms around me once again, pulling me towards his body. I felt his lips crash onto mine, and for a moment, desire overtook me. I melted into his body, waves of heat crashing over me.
“No.”
It could have been just a moment, or it could have been forever. I wasn’t sure. But eventually, I regained my sanity.
“No! Let me go!” I cried, pushing him away from me.
He released me, tendrils of my disheveled hair slipping through his outreached fingers.
I ran down the dark hallway, leaving Will standing, drunken and bereft, by the drawing room door. The sounds of the party inside slowly faded behind me. I ran through corridor after corridor, upstairs and down hallways, until I was finally surrounded by silence.
I collapsed against the wall, tears streaming down my face… and the sting of scotch from Will’s kiss still lingering on my lips.
Chapter Fourteen
