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“Dance with me?” Nix asked Auri.
Auri’s gaze skated to Tarley. “Do you mind?”
“Go.” Tarley gave her sister a smile, happy that Auri looked herself once more and realizing she was going to have to speak to their mother on Auri’s behalf. Leaving her stuck at the cottage wasn’t healthy.
She watched Nix lead Auri away, then looked for Lachlan once again. The realization that she didn’t want to be without him punched into the soft tissue of her heart, and she feared, as she scanned the crowd that he’d finally come to his senses.
“May I offer you my companionship as a dance partner?” Lucian asked.
He was being polite, but Tarley offered him a charming smile and inclined her head. “I’d love to.”
25
He was late. He hadn’t intended it, but Trevis had an accidental spill on his pants, then ranted that everyone would think he’d “pissed himself.” Lachlan, rather clueless, had used his common sense, but that meant waiting for the fabric to dry to not showcase the offensive darkness in the region of Trevis’s crotch. Lachlan had spent the last hour working hard not to laugh. Trevis wasn’t in the mood.
The queen was going to be put out. And Tarley. He’d made gains with her since the blackberry picking and his birthday and the kiss, but he had a terrible feeling that Tarley was… well, he wasn’t sure, and when it came to Tarley, he never had been. Being late might seal his fate. They still hadn’t come to an understanding about Tarley as a willing bride, but the queen was rolling ahead. He supposed if worse came to worse, if Tarley refused, they could break the engagement down the line, though the thought antagonized him.
When he entered the meeting house—a far cry from a ballroom but appealing in a magical wood kind of way—he immediately scanned the room for Tarley. When he found her, several things happened. His lungs stopped working because she was the most radiant woman in the room, then his heart expanded, because he was going to get to marry her, then his mind stalled, because she was in the arms of a very tall and handsome stranger—blond, bright, smiling— someone he’d never seen before in Sevens.
And she was returning his smile. Laughing with him.
Trevis said something, which Lachlan didn’t hear, then disappeared into the crowd, leaving Lachlan to his own devices. Which weren’t good.
He knew that but didn’t check himself, his impetuosity ruling as he stalked through the room. That man didn’t get Tarley’s smiles or her laughter. That man didn’t get to dance with her. That man was dancing with his woman… Lachlan wanted to rage, throw his fists. But halfway there, he stalled and stopped.
He’d never felt like that before. Not about anyone.
He glanced at Tarley, and his heart eased, tempering his fit of jealousy.
She deserved to look at a man like that, even if it wasn’t him.
She deserved to smile and be adored by everyone.
She deserved to be happy, even if it was in the arms of another.
As much as it pained him: she deserved it all, even if it wasn’t with him.
And he was on the way to steal it from her through their forced marriage. She was entitled to her fun tonight. So instead of being an ass, he veered course toward the punch, hoping it was spiked with something stronger, and found a wall to lean against.
When the queen found him sometime later, she was glaring at him.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. She was such a petite thing, and so fierce. “You look like you’re pouting.”
“I might be.”
“Why?” She followed his gaze. Tarley wasn’t with the blond giant any longer but standing among several men like a queen holding court. “Why aren’t you over there?”
“I’m giving her space. You know, to enjoy the night.”
“You are such an idiot. I don’t know how you’re ever going to rule a kingdom,” she snapped in a subdued whisper.
Surprised and hurt by her virulence, he leaned away. “She’s been pretty clear that–”
“Look at her face!”
Lachlan hadn’t taken much time to notice, too wrapped up in his own misery watching Tarley shine. He wanted so much to be who she chose, and yet she was surrounded by a bevy of men. But when he let himself look at her face, she looked… angry, like the Tarley he knew when she was ready to throw something.
Lachlan smacked his cup down on the table. “Time to save my queen,” he said and left Keyanna behind.
