Page 96 of Anything But a Duke
“Mr. Iverson.” She rose and swept forward to greet him, offering him her fingers in a brief handshake. “How good it is for you to play along with Mr. Ashby’s nonsense and to agree to attend this dance.”
Diana’s mouth went dry as dust. Her thoughts scattered like leaves in a stiff breeze. He was here and this was truly happening. She was going to have to watch her friend attempt to win him.
“Shall we go into the ballroom? We have some refreshments assembled there,” Grace said brightly.
“Yes,” Bess said instantly. “I’m famished.” She rose from the settee and Dom stood and followed too, but Aidan hadn’t moved.
He stood, blocking the threshold, his eyes locked on Diana’s.
“No,” he said with unexpected firmness.
“Is something amiss, Mr. Iverson?” Grace blinked in confusion.
“I need to speak with Miss Ashby.” He glanced around, his gaze skimming each of them. “Privately.”
Bess and Dominick moved past him into the hall, so that only Grace remained, standing between the two of them. She looked from Aidan to Diana, and then let out a weary sigh.
“This is most unusual,” she said with more understanding than Diana expected. “But I will ensure that you have some privacy and tell the others we’ll hold off dancing for a quarter of an hour. Will that do?”
When neither of them answered, Grace exited the sitting room and pulled the door closed behind her.
“I met a Lady Josephine Brook today.” His voice was strained, raw. “She is my half-sister.”
They were the last words Diana expected to hear, and she approached immediately to lay a hand on his arm. “The name on the envelope? How did you find her?”
“She found me.” He stared down at his boots a moment before meeting her gaze again. “My father is an earl and my mother was his servant.”
“You’ve found your family,” Diana said quietly. She was glad he had answers, and yet heartbroken that he’d endured so much and grown up without a family.
“What I’ve found is that I’m no longer as concerned with where I came from as with what the future holds.” His gaze was lit with warmth, and though he spoke with his usual confidence, there was a raw intensity in his tone. He reached for her, stepping closer until they were bodice to waistcoat. “You know that I can’t marry Grace Grinstead.”
“Can’t you?” Diana found that the nervous anticipation of seeing him again was nothing compared to the rush of pleasure that poured through her veins like warm treacle when he was this close. “She will be disappointed.”
“I don’t want to talk about Grace,” he said firmly. “I want to talk about us.”
Diana moved a bit closer and wondered why she’d ever thought she could resist him and the feelings he stoked in her. “I thought I explained everything.”
“Do you trust me?” When they were so close his trouser legs brushed the bell of her skirt, he reached for her. Sliding a hand around her waist, he held her very much as he had the night they’d met.
“You know that I do.”
“Then believe me when I tell you that I’ve realized what’s important. Those goals you think I was clinging to don’t matter to me at all.” He bent closer and said quietly, intently, “Diana, a future with you is what I want. You matter to me.”
“But I’m not what you n—”
He lifted a finger and pressed it to her lips. “Youarewhat I need.”
Diana scooted an inch closer, savoring the heat of him. “You’re certain?”
One ruddy brow lifted and his mouth tipped up in a smile. “I intend to show you how certain every single day.” The smile ebbed and his mouth turned down. “That is, if you’ll allow me to.”
She lifted a hand between them and wrapped her fingers around one of the buttons of his waistcoat. Her mind had quieted, and she knew only one thing for certain.
“I’ve confessed all,” he said softly. “But you must tell me what you want.”
The words were there on the tip of her tongue, bursting to break free, but some last threads of resistance held her back. “I spoke to Dominick about all of this,” she told him with a smile.
“What did you tell him?” He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek.
