Page 74 of Claimed By Her Forbidden Duke
Now, she had to choose what to wear.
* * *
She was less panicked than the last she had been at Julian Gray’s house, and now that she was there, she could appreciate the small rose bushes that lined the back-garden path and the lantern that hung above the back door.
Penelope did not know if it was polite to knock, but the door opened as she lifted her hand anyway.
Just beyond the door was Edmund, and the sight of him weakened her. He was dressed in all black, from his waistcoat with gray trim to the black cravat that shone beneath the light to his dark shirt and breeches. He was not wearing a tailcoat, yet there was still something so composed about him that sent heat through her.
“Are you going to observe me all night, or would you like to come in?” he asked in a voice that shivered right down her spine.
“Of course.” She laughed, her voice cracking. “Of course, I am coming in. I?—”
Penelope took one more moment to steel herself before stepping into the house where, weeks ago, she should have lost her virtue but had been stopped by the very man who might take it?—
She halted that train of thought quickly. She did not want to jump to such conclusions.
“You knew I was here,” she noted as Edmund took her cloak, surprising her with how he carefullyfolded it into a closet in the hallway.
His hand twitched, as if he wanted to hold hers, but he did not, and she did not offer.
“It turns out that Julian has an excellent spot for spying on the back door. He told me it is to ensure that his clients do leave. He says he knows how the front gate sounds, so he feels comforted by that, but he has to keep an eye on the back entrance.”
“I see.”
“It is how he knows you were there that night.”
Penelope inhaled sharply, and he turned to her when he realized she wasn’t keeping pace behind him. “What? I-I thought he…”
“You thought that simply because you did not show your face to him, he would not recognize you? Oh, no, Penelope. You are far too well-known for that.”
Her face flushed, but Edmund smirked at her.
“Do not worry. Julian has secrets of his own; he is the last man to go gossiping about who wishes to experience his exquisite talents in the bedroom. His words, not my opinion.”
There was a tinge of humor in his voice, and the normalcy of their conversation put Penelope surprisingly at ease.
He cocked his head as if he knew she was surprised.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Did you invite me here to discuss your friend’s business?”
“You must know I did not,” he said. “But what did you expect when you first entered?”
For a moment, Penelope could only think of the desperate way they had stumbled into the bookcase in the library. Maybe a part of her had expected that same clutching desperation after spending a couple of days apart, after the nights she had lain awake thinking of him, hoping he was doing the same.
Edmund’s eyes slowly traced her face. “I invited you here for dinner.”
“Dinner?”
He nodded, his eyes flickering over her face. “You are surprised.”
She nodded, flushing. “I thought perhaps we would drink some wine, sit together in the drawing room…” she trailed off, not wanting to admit her lustful thoughts, but he looked at her as though he knew them.
“Well then, depending on how dinner goes, you may just be dessert.”
With that, he walked into a room that branched off the darkened hallway, and although Penelope’s anxiety increased at the thought of both dinneranddessert, at the sheer reality of having snuck out, she followed him.
