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Chase had barely said a word, but he kept looking at Dane as though he had a thousand questions he wished to ask. Dane, for his part, kept his eyes straight ahead, not meeting Chase’s gaze. He wasn’t ready to say that Chase had actually been right. It might be possible to develop feelings in a short time.
“Juliet isn’t like her, you know,” Chase said, looking over at his cousin.
“Who?” he asked, his gut clenching.
“Lady Tiffany Sterling. She was a social climber. Juliet doesn’t give a fig about titles.”
“You know that for certain?” Dane rubbed his neck, looking down at the floor. “I can’t be manipulated like that again.”
“She’s never said a word about becoming a titled lady. I know she’s a genuine person.” Chase placed a hand on his shoulder. “But don’t take my word for it. Get to know her yourself. Then you’ll be able to decide.”
He didn’t respond as Ophelia and Juliet came down the hall, carrying a large basket and umbrellas.
Chase stepped out and took the basket from Ophelia’s hand, placing a warm kiss on her cheek. “Do we need a blanket?”
“I packed one,” Ophelia replied, smiling at Chase.
“Candles?” he asked with a chuckle. Ophelia laughed too, the intimacy of the suggestion obvious to anyone watching.
Juliet approached him just as Chase asked the question and she gave a long sigh. “When Chase proposed, he lit one hundred candles in a little hideaway in the cove. Isn’t that romantic?”
Dane raised his brows. His cousin had carried all those candles down to the beach? “That sort of labor takes commitment.”
She adjusted her skirts, looking down at the floor. “We all helped on that front. Ophelia has done so much for us that I…we wanted to give back to her.”
He gave a quick nod as Chase turned back to them, Ophelia on his arm. Chase was right. Juliet had a caring heart.
They made their way down to the beach. As they traversed the steep path, he found that he covered the hand she’d tucked into his elbow with his free hand, wanting to hold her close and keep her steady. He was normally only this protective with Chase or Charlie.
“Do you like Seabridge Gate?” she asked. “It’s rather quiet but so pretty. It’s been a wonderful place to grow up.”
“I like it very much.” He looked down at her stunning profile. “My summer home isn’t far from here. It’s my favorite property.”
“Do you winter in London?” She stopped turning toward him. “My father’s been promising that we’d take a trip there, but work keeps him here nearly all the time.”
“I do,” he answered. “Do you wish to go there?”
“I’m not certain. Most of my sisters wish to go. I like it here. It’s funny because I tend to be the loudest of them all and so I think they think I’d wish to travel there the most. But the truth is, I’d be no one ther
e. Here, I…”
He understood. “This is your domain.” He cleared his throat. “I also prefer the quiet of the country where everyone acts a little kinder and family seems to matter more.”
Chase and Ophelia had moved ahead, continuing down the path and the two of them found themselves alone once again. “My sisters wished to participate in a season so that they might find husbands.” She gave his arm a squeeze, her umbrella slipping to one side. “But now three of them are engaged. Perhaps I’ll change my mind if I don’t find a match of my own.”
Dane leaned closer, reaching for her chin. He needed her to understand. “Juliet, I have every confidence whether you are in Seabridge Gate, London, Bath, or even halfway around the world, men will find you. You sparkle more than any jewel I have ever met.”
She gasped in a breath. “That’s so strange. Ophelia called me a gem yesterday too.”
He chuckled. “That’s because you have a brightness about you that cannot be denied.”
Even now, the green of her eyes danced as they met his. Quite without meaning to, he leaned down. Perhaps to inspect them closer but as her chin tilted up, their lips softly met. It was the lightest touch. Almost like the beat of a butterfly’s wings but it sent need coursing through him.
* * *
His lips touched hers and the world tilted. Juliet lifted her hands, grasping his jacket to keep from sliding off the surface of the world into the ocean. He was warm and strong, and he anchored her enough that when his lips lifted, her eyes fluttered open to find the world was exactly as she left it.
Only, everything inside seemed completely different. Perhaps it wasn’t the world that had shifted but her. Things she thought she knew had grown fuzzy and other ideas that she’d been picking around, that had seemed foggy and grey, were suddenly very clear.
