Page 26 of The Rake I Wished For
The click-clack sound of her needles formed a comforting background noise as they began to play.
Whether it was the soft sounds of the needles, or the crackling of the fire, or the familiar comfort of the game, Jocelyn felt that tension and that nervous energy seeping from her with each new move.
“Well, Jo?” Harlow said, his voice low and calm and comforting like usual.
It put her at ease even more.
“Yes, John?” she teased.
He narrowed his eyes in feigned anger, and slid his pawn forward. “Are you ever going to tell me why you were so desperate for a kiss?”
She sat up straight. He’d caught her unawares. The glimmer of amusement in his eyes said he knew it.
“I-I told you,” she said.
“No, all you told me was that you wished to kiss a man before you marry because you were certain you would not feel that way about your husband.”
She blinked in surprise at hearing her own words repeated back to her. Was that what she’d said? Her head had been too overwhelmed with sensations when he’d held her in his arms.
She couldn’t be held responsible for what she’d said.
She tried to think of a way to deny it, or to laugh it off, but she wasn’t quick enough.
“I’ve heard the Marquess of Northbridge is quite a handsome man,” Harlow said slowly.
Her breath caught in her throat because that glint in his eyes wasn’t amusement any longer. It held a wicked edge. A dangerous one…
“From what I’ve heard, he’s young and has good manners,” she said.
“So you’ve never even met the man,” he said.
“Of course not. That was why I’d wished to stay.”
Harlow leaned forward, and she stared intently at the pieces on the board.
“How do you know you won’t wish to be kissed by your husband?”
A chill swept over her—that draft most likely. She shivered.
Harlow caught it. “I thought I knew you, Jo…”
Her gaze lifted, her eyes widened. Her heart lurched, because… “You do.”
His gaze was even and fierce.
“You know me better than anyone.”
The words were out before she could stop them, and it wasn’t until they were out there, in the air between them, that she realized how true they were.
Liam and Rose loved her, but as a little sister. They’d never quite understood her sense of humor, or indulged her games. They never sat with her for hours on end and just…talked.
She swallowed hard as Harlow studied her.
“I do know you,” he agreed slowly. “Which is why I want to understand.”
The flood of warmth in his eyes nearly undid her. She stood abruptly and walked over to the fire. He followed and she realized her mistake. Here by the fire she felt trapped.
She should have just gone up to her room with…
