The Unexpected Duchess (Playful Brides #1)(65)



Lucy clenched her fist. “What an awful man.”

Derek shrugged. “Perhaps, but he taught me the value of being decisive. There were other drills, other tests, but none as memorable as that one. I’ve never hesitated a moment since, despite my father’s unorthodox method.”

Lucy swallowed. That was why Derek was so bent on having Cass. He’d already decided. It all made sense.

She stepped toward him. They were close, barely a hairbreath apart. “The Duke of Decisive,” she said quietly.

He nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly right.”

Lucy looked up at him and blinked. He was so handsome, so handsome and strong. Her heart wrenched at the thought of a little boy who had to choose between his favorite toy and his pet.

Derek reached down and tugged on one of the black curls that had managed to wrangle itself free from her bonnet. “Do you know how pretty you are?”

She inhaled sharply but couldn’t take her eyes off his face. “I’m not pretty. Cass is pretty.”

“You are. So pretty.” He ran the back of his hand lightly over her cheekbone.

Lucy shuddered.

“And your eyes are so…”

“Strange?” she finished for him.

“I was going to say unusual. Mysterious.”

She smiled lightly. “I suppose those are nicer words for it. Someone once told my mother I was a witch.”

“That’s preposterous.” Derek’s jaw clenched. “They said that in front of you?”

“No, but Mother told me.”

He cursed under his breath. “Why would she do that?”

“It was always clear that Mother and Father blamed me for … not being a boy.”

Derek didn’t say a word. He just rubbed his knuckle along her cheek again and traced the outline of her ear with his rough thumb. “I’m glad you’re not a boy.”

Lucy drew in a deep breath.

He leaned down, toward her. She held her breath. He was going to kiss her. She wanted him to. She wanted him to badly. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

“Damn it, Lucy. I’m supposed to be decisive in everything.”

She opened her eyes and stared at him, blinking.

“That’s why it’s so difficult for me to know how much I want you.”

Lucy glanced down at the soft green grass. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes. She’d been mistaken. He wasn’t going to kiss her.

She turned away. That was for the best.





CHAPTER FORTY


Christian sat on the settee across from Lucy, his back ramrod-straight. He sipped his tea and didn’t say a word. Had not said a word, in fact, the entire time they’d been visiting. It was terribly disappointing. After all of his lovely letters and the ones she’d written back, Lucy had been certain things would be different between them now. How could they not? After all the witticisms they’d exchanged, the stories, the opinions, the jests.

She eyed him carefully, expecting that at any moment he would open up and become the clever man she knew from the letters. It was just a matter of time, wasn’t it? Perhaps he needed more tea. Unlike Derek, Christian drank tea. In large quantities.

He certainly was handsome. That much she’d give him. A more beautiful type of handsome than Derek. Derek was all rugged and muscled where Christian looked more like an archangel carved into stone. Oh, why was she comparing him to Derek? Why was she even thinking about Derek?

Derek. Derek hadn’t kissed her yesterday. It was for the best. And if she just kept repeating that to herself, perhaps she’d eventually believe it. Cass was sure to be better any day now. She and Derek would finally begin their courtship. Lucy should be concentrating on her own courtship … with Christian. She glanced at Christian. He was still merely smiling at her from behind his empty teacup.

That was it. If he wasn’t going to begin the conversation, she would. She cleared her throat. “I found it so interesting, what you said about the state of the East India Company in your last letter. I’ve often had the same thought myself, but of course, with you being privy to the House of Lords, you must know much more about it than I.”

A fleeting look of terror flickered in his eyes before he resumed the study of his teacup. “Y … yes,” was all he said.

Lucy furrowed her brow. He certainly wasn’t making this easy for her. “What do you think the lord chancellor’s next decision will be? In regard to the company?” She blinked at him inquiringly.

Christian shakily set his cup on the side table next to him and pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of his waistcoat. He wiped his forehead and let out a deep breath. “I … I don’t know.”

Lucy frowned. She took another sip of tea. He certainly seemed nervous. Oh, perhaps he wasn’t in the mood to talk about Parliament and the East India Company. It could be rather boring, couldn’t it? That suited her just fine. She actually had another goal today.

She wanted Christian to kiss her.

Frankly, she’d only ever kissed Derek Hunt before. Well, aside from a few overly handsy young men who’d barely been able to locate her lips, let alone use their tongue to any advantage, when she’d first made her debut. No. Derek was the only one who’d ever truly kissed her, and she couldn’t allow that to remain the case. If she and Christian were to have a proper courtship, she might as well get the kissing bit out of the way and erase the duke from her memory altogether. The sooner the better.

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