Page 51 of Cora
Though she had been tempted. Eliza hadn’t bothered to recall their friendship; she had only asked after Eryx.
Martha cocked her head. “I suppose you did grow up dealing with this set. I ought to trust you more.”
Grew up with this set? Hardly, unless one counted being dragged to archeological sites for the first sixteen years of her life and privately tutored before being shoved into a girls’ finishing school. “More like thrown to the sharks, really.”
Martha actually laughed.
* * *
That eveningupon arriving back home, Gideon dropped his coat on the newel post and asked, “Are you still up for that game of billiards?”
“I am, and I have every intention of defeating you.”
He traced one finger down her exposed bosom. “I’d love to watch you try.” He was attuned to every swish of her skirt and the feeling of Cora’s gaze boring between his shoulder blades as they walked to his billiards room. Gideon racked the balls and said, “Ladies first.”
Cora selected her cue stick. “I have been practicing.”
Shadowboxing, if she’d been playing against herself during daylight hours. In the ring, as in billiards, one needed a proper opponent.
“Show me,” he commanded, and she did with an impressive break shot. The first time they played together, when she had been uncertain and learning the basic rules of the game, she had been gorgeous, spread out over his billiards table. Now with a tiny pleat in her forehead and focused concentration on tapping the white ball just so, he couldn’t look away.
Cora sank two balls in quick succession, then said with a wave her hand, “You promised me a story.”
“You haven’t won yet, songbird.”
But he was suddenly worried she might. How had she gotten so much better, and so quickly?
“Tell me anyway,” she said. “I deserve to know the truth.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
GIDEON
Gideon studied the table for a long moment, pondering his options.
“I’ll trade you a truth for a truth.”
Cora’s eyebrow cocked. She rested one hand on her hip with the other arm outstretched like a statue of Athena, holding her cue like a sword rested on the floor. “Agreed.”
Gideon shot a ball into the pocket. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman.”
“I didn’t ask for a fairy tale.”
“I’m just getting started.” He set up his next shot. “This beautiful young woman had the strangest mix of good fortune and ill. She was born to a wealthy father who loved her enough to want her to be accepted, despite the fact that he could not marry her mother.”
“Her mother wouldn’t likely have accepted that duke’s proposition anyway,” Cora said wryly.
Gideon sank a ball. “I took one look at this lady and decided she was mine. I could not offer for her at the moment, but there was someone who could. Her sparkling beauty had attracted many admirers, but there was one man who concerned me.”
Cora’s tiny snort of derision caused Gideon to miss his next hit. She truly didn’t believe him when he told her she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever beheld. Maddening. She had mirrors and two functioning eyes. How could she not see herself the way he did? He stepped back and watched her line up her next strike.
“The man I was most worried about also happened to be someone whose good graces I could not afford to offend. He was the kind of man who outwardly looked like an ideal husband for the lady in question. He was extremely wealthy and very handsome.”
“Handsomer than you?” she teased.
Gideon choked. He liked her teasing; it was far better than the cool mockery she had shown him early on. Borderline affectionate. Heat unspooled in his middle. Once he recovered his composure, he continued. “The other man had no intention of marrying her. He might have looked like a fairy-tale prince, but he was a predator. He was cruel, and he was determined to ruin this young woman simply because he could get away with doing so.”
Cora’s expression contained bafflement, confusion, and astonishment all at once.
