Page 42 of The Gentleman Was Right
She pulled her hand away and tucked it into the folds of her skirts.
“It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was overwhelmed. Our interlude outdoors surprised me. I should…um…warn you that you shouldn’t mistake my appreciation for kissing with a deepening of emotions. I very much enjoyed our kiss, and I look forward to doing it again, but it would be foolish if I allowed that to sway my decision-making or my feelings. I’m not marrying you because I liked kissing you.”
Providing answers to questions he hadn’t asked but had certainly considered deflated the optimism that had been steadily increasing during their conversation.
At the same time, he couldn’t help noticing that her body language told a different story than her words. Her eyes were unfocused as if she were lost in a memory. Perhaps she was remembering their kiss.
Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
Hell.Now he was remembering about their kiss.
He glanced at her sister again. Could he get Isabelle to leave? What would he need to offer? As soon as he asked himself the question, he realized it was futile. Even if he was able to get Isabelle to give them a minute, there was no way he could trust his family to stay away for long. It was a miracle Belinda hadn’t followed them in the first place.
The rain pounding against the window made it impossible for him to suggest they take a walk to get out of the house. Since there was nowhere they could steal a moment of privacy, he assured her in a quiet voice, “When I kiss you next, I’ll try not to make any assumptions about your emotional state.”
And then to himself, he made a silent vow.I will prove to you that you can trust me first.
ChapterThirteen
Later that evening, Edward found himself seated across from his brother with a glass of brandy in his hand. It wasn’t atypical for them to retire to the study after supper. They’d done it dozens of times, but they had never lapsed into such an awkward silence. It was clear from the way Sebastian’s fingers tapped an irregular beat on the arm of his chair that he had something on his mind.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what.
Edward’s forthcoming marriage hung between them, just waiting for one of them to mention it.
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Sebastian spoke suddenly, his voice quiet even though they were alone. “But I don’t want you to make an irreversible mistake.”
“An irreversible mistake,” he echoed.
There was no way to misconstrue what Sebastian meant, so Edward wasn’t at all surprised when Sebastian added, “If you marry Violet, you will be tied to her until her death or yours.”
Edward swirled the contents of his glass but didn’t take a drink.
“I am familiar with how marriage works.”
Sebastian frowned. “I don’t mean to sound condescending, but you really have no idea.”
“How could that not sound condescending?” Edward asked, only slightly annoyed. If they’d had this conversation a few months prior, he’d have been furious. He would have made either a disparaging or dismissive remark and then attempted to ignore whatever Sebastian said next. Fortunately, their relationship had evolved to the point that Edward could simply raise his eyebrow and wait for whatever wisdom his brother felt necessary to impart without overreacting.
Sebastian didn’t hesitate to clarify. He set his glass on the end table and scraped his hand across the shadow of stubble on his chin as he leaned forward. “Marriage is more complicated than it appears. It involves emotions and…well…it can be difficult to predict how you’ll feel about a woman once she is your wife.”
It wasn’tthatdifficult to predict. In fact, Edward thought he had a pretty good handle on how he’d feel. “Protective. Smitten. Committed. Aroused.” He smirked when Sebastian scowled at the last one. In spite of being married and in love, Sebastian was still made uncomfortable by the mere mention of sex. It would have been irritating if it wasn’t endearing. “I don’t have any illusions about why she is marrying me. I’m going to save her from an unwanted marriage, and then when the dust has settled and she has learned to trust me, I’m going to earn her affection.”
“Why her?” Sebastian asked.
It was a good question. He wished he had a better answer than helikedher. “She needs me.”
“And you want to be needed?”
It wasn’t as simple as it sounded, but he thought his brother might understand the part he couldn’t put into words. “I kissed her. I want to do it again.”
“Oh.” Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “Oh.The kiss was…passionate?”
“Indeed. There was fire between us. I’ve never felt anything like it.” He paused. “I’m going to earn her trust. And then maybe love will follow.”
“Maybe.” Sebastian squinted at him. “Do you believe it’s that simple? That passion and trust are somehow connected, and together they turn into love?”
“Why not? Our family. You. Mother. Father. All found love from passion.”
