Page 30 of In Compromise with the Earl
Pulling his hand away in fear that he might not stop touching her, he stepped away. “We all need someone one day, Sprite.”
She looked to the side. “Not me.”
As she made to hop off the post, she winced and yanked her hand away to see a tiny droplet of blood on her thumb. Snorting softly, he slipped his hands on her hips and gently lifted her off the post to the ground. “Let me?”
She held her hand out with a tinge of wariness in her eyes. Pressing his thumbs into her finger, he managed to pluck the splinter out of her finger. “It shouldn’t bleed too much.”
Aphrodite stared at him with eyes that could only compare to the color of Heaven. When he looked at her now, however, it was through the eyes of a man, not a lad. She was gorgeous, petite and strong, but he saw how fragile that beauty was. She had kept herself self-contained for so long, decided to depend on herself alone for so many years.
He admired her endurance, a character that drew his attraction and would deepen over time, but he knew from personal experience how that strength could crack. “You’re so young—” he said, unthinkingly.
She bristled. “And what isthatsupposed to mean?”
Gripping her arms to keep her where she stood, he said, “Nothing bad. Just that you have so much to learn about the world.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I amnotnaïve.”
“Far from it,” his thumbs made circles on her shoulder blades while the ever-present attraction flared up. “You cannot walk alone, Aphrodite. I know it scares you to trust anyone, hell, I was that way from the day I ripped off the blindfold about Claire’s deeds. I thought everyone around me was a traitor and could not be trusted, but it’s not so. You must trust at least one person in your life. It is a lesson I learned the hard way.”
She pulled a corner of her lip in, and the flash of vulnerability in her eyes. “And you, can I trust you?”
“I want to say yes,” Oswald removed his hands. “But my objectivity is already compromised when it comes to you.”
“And why is that?” she asked.
Because I do not want to deny this illogical and ill-fated attraction to you that will lead me—us—into a tangled mess.
“Your words ask me a question, but your eyes tell me that you already know the answer,” Oswald said enigmatically. “You and I are not good for each other.”
“Your kiss—”
“Was the first of my mistakes,” he said, stepping away. “We’ve been matched with others, Sprite. Is that not enough indication that we’re not suited?”
“And you and Lady Holier-than-thou are?” Aphrodite asked pointedly, her left brow arched to her hairline. “Or is that you’re afraid to see what might be good between us.”
He rubbed his eyes, “Things are complicated, Sprite. It’s not only that I—” he shook his head. “I didn’t come here with any expectations and from what I’ve seen, you’re practically engaged. Your generous friend has paired us with others and much as I want to think the odds can be defied this time, there might be prices to pay. Even worse, seems that things get muddled with you around.”
Laughing, she replied, “I’ll take that as compliment. Its time we’re back at the Manor. Our absence will be noted, and I do not want any untoward rumors swirling around us.”
“If they have not started already,” his lips twisted.
* * *
That evening, as Aphrodite entered the dining hall, smoothing non-existent wrinkles out of her emerald silk gown; she saw the Duke, surrounded by four ladies, all vying for his attention with their coquettish gazes and posturing. Lady Fairchild, Oswald’s match, one of them.
They can all have him.
Taking a glass of water, she sipped at it while looking over the rest that were gathered. Like iron to a lodestone, her gaze landed on Oswald—only to find him observing her, with a guarded, brooding look that would, at any other time unnerve her and make her think of a keen hawk circling above prey.
Now though, she saw heat and speculation in his eyes, she wondered what was going through his mind. Was he thinking of the conversation they had earlier? His enigmatic stare made her temporarily forget about the others around them and it was the cold sensation in her palm that drew her attention and forced her to look away to marshal her thoughts.
Oswald, what are you doing to me?
She looked back at Jameson to see a woman in a very provocative red gown with a very revealing neckline, trailing a sharp nail up his arm and to his impeccably tied cravat. Glad the troublesome Duke was still occupied, she turned, ready to find one of the Lords she was paired with and converse, when Jameson’s cultured drawl was in her ear.
“You’ve been ignoring me, Lady Aphrodite.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood in the worst possible way. Clearing her throat, she said, “Not true. I’ve been avoiding you altogether.”
