Page 13 of The Rake I Wished For
He’d neverlethimself see her that way.
But then she had to go and talk of kissing, and now…
Well, now he couldn’tnotsee the grown woman she’d become. Earlier when he’d gone to pick her up, he tried to tell himself that he was merely escorting his best friend’s little sister.
And then there she was—outrageously beautiful as she’d met his gaze like she always did. Like their every meeting was a challenge. Just like their every conversation was a duel, of sorts.
Tonight, he’d watched her walk down those steps, and with her every move he was ever more achingly aware of her beauty—the way her lips curved so sweetly, the way her slender neck met the delicate curve of her shoulders. The way she moved with such grace and spoke with those velvet tones that never failed to warm him.
But no more.
He stared at her hard now as she gazed up at the night sky.
He couldn’t see her that way. This was the young lady he’d known his whole life and whom everyone in London knew was meant to marry well. She’d be the season’s diamond of the first water. She’d have her pick of husbands, and he knew better than anyone that she wanted it all. The title, wealth…
All the things he didn’t have.
Which was fine, because he’d never wanted to be that man. Or…maybe…he’d never really thought about it before. He’d never thought about her like that before.
Until she made him see her that way with one mention of a kiss.
And blast it all, he resented her for it.
Just then someone went to pass him and jostled his elbow. If he’d had any doubt about what she was doing out here alone, standing just on the brink of the dark garden…
A growl rippled through him as he caught the man passing by the elbow.
The lad came to an abrupt halt and turned to face him.
Sure enough—Captain Hinds.
He’d seen this man chase after Jocelyn countless times and had never thought much of it because he’d assumed Jocelyn was too smart to do anything so stupid as encourage the man.
But clearly he’d overestimated her intelligence. Or…
A sneer tugged at his lips as he regarded the man next to him.
Or perhaps he’d just underestimated her naivete.
Somehow that thought made his heart ache and his chest feel too tight, and a wave of protectiveness swept over him so hot and fierce, it had him gripping the other man’s arms so hard enough to make the man flinch.
“Mister Harlow, I—”
“I’ll take it from here, Captain.” Harlow dropped his hand and held it out to take the lemonade from the fool who didn’t seem to realize his life was very much in danger.
Or…maybe he did.
The younger man’s eyes widened and he nearly sloshed lemonade all over the stones of the veranda as he handed over the cup. “Oh, sir, pardon me, I didn’t know—”
“Nothing to apologize for,” Harlow gritted out. He cast a meaningful glance toward Jocelyn, who was watching them closely, her lips pressed together in annoyance.
Harlow turned back to the captain. “You’ve done no harm…yet.”
His gaze was hard and cold, and if this fool had any sense in that dandified head of his, he’d run for the hills right this second, because Harlow’s hand was already clenching into a fist, his jaw so tight he could feel the muscle ticcing there.
He hadn’t been in a fight in years—he wasn’t an angry man, by nature, and he wasn’t given to fits of temper—but right now it was only the thought of how a fight right here and now would reflect on Jocelyn’s reputation that had him keeping his fist at his side.
But all it would take was one smirk, one protest, one word from this—
