Page 11 of A Scandal Before Christmas
Longing for something so dangerous buckled Lauren’s knees.
Her hands ripped free from Theodore’s. Landing with a thump, the pain at first knocked the breath from her lungs. Thrown off balance, Theodore fell to the ice as well.
A helpless giggle tumbled from Lauren at the comical sight of the fiercely elegant and habitually proper earl sprawled on his bum beside her. That quickly morphed into a chuckle, and before she knew it, she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.
Theodore stared at her for a long moment, concern for her safety obvious in the way his eyes traveled over her. Then, his lips twitched with the hint of a grin. Moving closer, his hand slid up to cup her jaw, the leather of his glove surprisingly warm as though his skin radiated heat beneath the material. Lauren fought the urge to nestle into his touch even while she laughed.
Finally, a reluctant chuckle broke free from Theodore, his eyes roaming over her curved mouth until she licked her lips self-consciously. When he spoke, the words were a husky rasp of familiarity and restrained desire.
“God, how I’ve missed your laughter. Hearing it now makes up for my bruised posterior.”
“Are you truly injured, or is it only your ego that has suffered?” she teased, almost forgetting they sat on a frozen pond in a jumble of skirts and legs and sharp, steel skates while people glided past, throwing them curious stares. It was quite scandalous they’d not made a single effort to rise from the ice. “I told you I was afraid of falling.”
“And I told you I’d go down as well.”
Suddenly sober, Theodore eased forward until their noses nearly touched, until Lauren thought he might actually kiss her.
“Let me in, Lauren, and you’ll never fall alone.”
Chapter 7
They lagged behind the others during the walk back to the manor.
Lauren was oddly quiet, but Theodore could not stop thinking how completely her laughter entranced him. How it left him more determined than ever to capture and claim her for his own.
When he stopped short on the pathway, she did not protest but merely regarded him with such calm Theodore wanted to shake her.
“Leave your door unlocked tonight, Lauren.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Why would you not? We’ve matters between us unsettled from this morning. Remember?” Theodore said in a low voice.
Lauren appeared disconcerted for a moment, then her mouth tightened. “I will remind you again; you are not my betrothed.”
“Damn it all, Lauren.” His words came out in a growl. Pulling her off the path so no one could witness his actions, he backed her against an English yew tree, his hands tight on her shoulders. “Why do you fight what is between us? Jesus Christ, I’m willing to give you anything your heart desires just to have you.”
Lauren shoved him, although the effort proved ineffective. Her chin jerked up, bringing Theodore’s attention to a bit of wild mistletoe tangled in the branches above their heads. “Give me a truth, Theo. Why did you not tell me what was done before I confronted you with it? Why didn’tyoutell me I’d been bought for my inheritance?”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to take care of my estates, to provide for my mother and all those dependent upon me once you voided our engagement contract? Do you?” Theodore countered angrily. “And to keep it all secret on top of that?
Lauren remained stubbornly silent until he rubbed her bottom lip with the pad of his gloved thumb. She let out a tiny gasp as he gruffly spoke. “I would not have used your inheritance; however, the idea itwasavailable carried tremendous weight with my father’s creditors.”
Tears built in her eyes until they shone like diamonds in the weak winter sunshine. “I was so happy when you asked me to marry you. I truly thought you loved me.”
“I did,” Theodore swore. “Goddamnit, I still do.”
“You used me. Perhaps not intentionally, but you did, and you would have continued using me had I not severed our relationship. It’s just as awful as my father using your family to gain his daughter a title.” Lauren pushed him away when his hands abruptly dropped to his sides. Ducking past him, she shook out her skirts and gave him what could only be considered a pitying look. “That isourtruth, Theodore.”
* * *
That is our truth,Theodore.
Lauren’s words needled Theodore. Through the rest of that afternoon, into the evening, through the night and into the next day, as she evaded his company and surrounded herself with the few single men her cousin invited to the house party, those words taunted and prodded him.
So, she believed she’d been used for his own gain. He squirmed uncomfortably, knowing she suffered under that disillusion. His motives for remaining silent on the terms of their engagement were oddly enough to spare Lauren both pain and embarrassment. No one needed to know his family bought themselves a rich bride, and inheritance or no, once he met Lauren, he was determined to have her, no matter what.
As his valet tied his cravat, preparing him for the evening meal, Theodore remembered the night he asked Lauren for her hand in marriage.
