Page 37 of Her Daring Earl
She held up a hand. “It’s done, Fitz,” she said gently. “I suppose we shall find out in due time if anything will come of it. But there is nothing we can do now.”
“I do not suppose there is.”
She reached out, cupping his cheeks. “I like to think of all that could come of this. That was, to me, incredible. Do you know that?”
A rush of peace washed over him. If she could look at this with such positivity, then so could he.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Incredible is a wonderful word for it.”
“Do you think… we could do that again sometime?”
A laugh whooshed out of him. “In the wine cellar?”
She dropped her hands and shook her head, laughter lighting her eyes. “Maybe not the wine cellar. How about a bed?”
“I think that could be arranged.”
“Good,” she said with an impish smile. “You know where to find me, it seems.”
“That I do,” he said, pausing for a moment, wondering if he should tell her what he was thinking or if it would admit too much to her. “Tell me why you hated me.”
He knew but wanted to hear it from her.
“I never hated you.”
“You certainly acted like you did.”
She sighed as she stood and began to take small steps back and forth in front of him, reminding him of himself and all of the pacing that he did.
“I’m not sure if I should admit this… but I had a bit of a penchant for you when I was young.”
“Only when you were young?” he said teasingly, and she shot him a look of annoyance.
“I thought it had faded until I came out and you completely ignored me. I suppose there was always a part of me that was still interested in you, that wanted your approval if nothing else.”
He stared at her, wondering how she couldn’t realize how captivatingly beautiful she was.
“I noticed you,” he said quietly.
She snorted. “You did not. You completely ignored me.”
“That was on purpose.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I noticed you and admired you far more than I should have. You were young, my sisters’ friend, and…” he couldn’t tell her that she was all wrong for him. He had no wish to hurt her. “… and I couldn’t allow you to see how much I wanted you.”
“So, you decided completely avoiding me was better?”
“I did.” It sounded foolish when she put it like that.
“I—” she had stopped pacing as she gaped at him instead. “I’m not entirely sure what to say. I had no idea. I thought you looked at me as a young girl.”
“Quite the opposite. Ishouldhave looked at you as a young girl. Instead, I saw a woman who was far too desirable.”
“Well,” she said with a sly grin, “It seems that your feelings worked to my advantage. If only we had discovered them all sooner.”
He was already shaking his head. “Then I only would have been in greater trouble.”
