Page 52 of His Forbidden Duchess
Does she want more from me?
He breathed in steadily. He had already given her so much and was prepared to give her freedom, and yet he was left with a sense that she wanted so much more, but he had no more to offer her.
“About the bet,” she began a few seconds later, her tone tentative.
Felix’s eyes sharpened, and his posture stiffened. He’d almost forgotten about the bet—the catalyst that had put everything else that had followed into motion.
It is the reason she has now become so much a part of my thoughts and my heart.
“Yes, I recall our bet.” His tone was cool, but he was aware of the edge hidden within it. “I must admit, I am curious. I understand now why you were so keen to marry Mortcombe so quickly, but why the bet?”
He looked at her intently as she squirmed in her seat. Something in him stirred, and he smirked. He liked it when she squirmed.
“Well, I…” She cleared her throat. “I proposed it because…” She paused, looking up at him again. “You were the only person I could think of who could help me to seduce Mortcombe. Given your experience, of course.”
She flushed at the bluntness of her words, and he was reminded of that night in his drawing room when he had been teaching her to dance. Her cheeks had flushed similarly then.
I cannot let myself be drawn in further.
His jaw tightened as he reminded himself that he could not have her in all of the ways he desired.
“But why the bet?” he asked. “Why not simply ask for my help?”
As Eloise scoffed, whatever uncertainty she had harbored seemed to slide from her, and she once again seemed light and playful as she had before.
“I knew you would never agree to it outright,” she said, “but you are competitive, Felix, you always have been. I thought that, perhaps, if I made it a challenge and not a plea for help, you would not be able to resist.”
Felix let out a humorless laugh, the sound low and bitter. She knew him so well, and he felt as if she had used him.
“So, you used my competitive nature against me.”
“It was nothing like that,” she insisted, her eyes pleading with his. “I could not tell you the real reason, you know that. For Jeremy’s sake if for nothing else. I know you would never have…”
She trailed off as Felix’s eyes darkened.
Jeremy.
Therein lay another problem Felix was going to have to face, and all in the name of helping their family. Would he also lose a lifelong friendship over this?
He resisted the urge to rub his hands over his face.
Dear Lord, I need a brandy. Or three.
None of what had unfolded made any sense to him, and yet here they were. He had no idea what to do next or what was expected of him.
What will the outcome of all this be?
He only knew he couldn’t allow his own desire or growing emotion to get the better of him.
“Ah yes, Jeremy,” Felix muttered to himself, turning to stare out of the window. “You and your brother, always tangled up in secrets. If I remember correctly, it was the same when we were children.”
Eloise winced, and Felix wondered if he had gone too far.
“It was the only way,” she whispered. “You were the only person I could turn to.”
“And yet, you lost the bet.”
He allowed himself a smirk, remembering what she had agreed to if she lost—a private dance lesson. He supposed that, now that she was his wife, he could have all the dance lessons he wanted.
