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Jo sighed, pulled up another chair, and sat by Selena’s side. “At least I do not have to look at my heartbreak at work every day.”
Selena wrinkled her nose. “I was never in love with Mick. I convinced myself that I had tender feelings for him to make the affair bearable, I suppose.”
“I don’t suppose it makes seeing him any less painful.”
“No.” Selena sniffed, then looked around the room. “This place is so tiny. How do you find so much furniture to move around?”
Jo laughed. “I just move everything ten inches to the right every day. And then every day the place looks different. Eventually, all will come around back to the way things were.”
Selena pursed her lips. “And your hope is that everything in your life will come around to the way things were, too?”
Jo shrugged. “It has to, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, don’t run, darling, I shall catch you!” Mick’s voice sounded outside the door and then some poor woman screeched as she ran past.
Jo grimaced, and Selena rolled her eyes. “Why do we let those bastards influence our moods so?”
“I don’t know.” Jo shook her head. “But let us agree that we shall not let them control our moods and our minds any longer.”
Selena nodded resolutely, and both women got up and walked toward their rehearsals with that decision in mind.
It was easier said than done, however. Jo’s mind continued slipping to wonder about Richard the entire day, while she caught Selena staring forlornly at the arse that was Mick.
How could sweet and lovely Selena find anything attractive in the repulsive and arrogant Mick?
Well… Perhaps Jo understood the attraction of an arrogant man, the thrill of standing up to him, and the joy of him appreciating the challenge. And then there was the moment when that arrogant and conceited man would open up to her and only her—while he put up a facade with everyone else—as they lay on the roof of his country house trying to see the shapes in the clouds.
Argh! When would her mind stop wandering?
“Enjoying the view?” Mick asked as he raised his brow suggestively.
Jo didn’t realize that she’d been staring at Mick all this time while she dreamed of another man. “Quite the contrary,” she said icily.
He walked toward her, his step slow, calculating. “Because I can certainly give you what you want,” he said, lowering his voice to a suggestive whisper.
Unpleasant shivers ran down her body, and to make matters worse, he raised his hand and ran a finger up her arm. Jo froze in place, her body shaking. She forced her mind to concentrate and find words to retort, but the best she could do was snatch back her arm.
“Mm, I see gooseflesh.” Mick smiled lecherously.
“That’s from revulsion,” Jo said and was finally able to step back from him.
He just shrugged. “I know you want me, Jo. And sooner or later, you will end up in my bed. Or bent over my desk. Whichever you prefer.” He winked and walked away.
“What did he say?” Selena appeared at her shoulder.
Jo shuddered. “Only vile and repulsive things. And now I also suffer from nausea, dear.”
* * *
Richard returned to London a few weeks after the house party, and his family followed.
Sam was the only one missing from their procession, as she was still visiting with the Clydesdales, although she had promised to join everybody in London soon. She would not risk missing Richard’s wedding, she’d said in her letter to him.
Everybody was excited about the upcoming nuptials.
Isabel volunteered to arrange the entire affair. Richard was certain there was nothing to arrange. Close family and friends would attend the ceremony, the morning feast would take place after, and then they would leave for the Gage estate.
The banns still needed to be read, of course. But Richard was dragging his feet with anything related to the wedding. He hadn’t even seen his bride since the house party. She had returned home for now, but would eventually join Richard in London to get the trousseau ready.
