Page 8 of The Rake I Wished For
“I’ll tell you my secrets,” she said softly. “If you tell me yours.”
He blinked, surprised as much at her coy tone as the words she’d spoken. Over the years he’d come to expect the unexpected from Liam’s vivacious little sister, but…
He’d never experienced this.
He’d seen her flirt with men before—the harmless sort of flirting that young ladies employed when they hid behind their fans or danced a waltz.
For a moment the sound of that feminine, seductive tone made his heart flip and his muscles tense.
But he was saved from answering when dinner was announced…earlier than expected.
He grinned. “I win.”
She huffed loudly, the tempting coquette replaced by his old friend as she sighed in frustration. “All right, very well.” She gathered her skirts as they slowly moved to join the others heading toward the dining room. “If you must know, I stayed behind so I might have my first kiss.”
For a moment their gazes collided and Harlow felt a surge of…
Of what? He could not say.
Or maybe, he did not wish to say. His gaze fell to her lips and heat flooded his veins.
A kiss? Jocelyn wished to be kissed?
For a brief moment, he could see it. What her eyes would look like when they fluttered shut, he could feel the heat of her skin if he were to cup her face in his hands, and the soft, warm welcome of her lips, and—
He drew in a sharp inhale as Jocelyn blinked up at him in surprise.
His mind halted jerkily to register the thought.
Jocelyn wished to kiss…another man.
Who?Harlow was not a rageful man, but all at once, every muscle in his body tensed and his jaw clamped shut, and Jocelyn’s eyes widened at whatever she saw in his expression.
“Come along, you two,” Rose called out.
With one last wide-eyed glance in his direction, Jocelyn kept moving.
Harlow…did not.
He stood there staring. Gaping. Emotions collided into him one after the other, too muddled to work out, but too overwhelming to ignore.
Liam caught him standing there alone on the far side of the room. He couldn’t stop staring at Jocelyn, who’d gone back to chatting merrily with the duchess as they slowly made their way to dinner.
“Are you coming, Harlow?” Liam asked.
Harlow nodded.
What did she mean she was going to be kissed?
By whom? And when?
Did Liam know she had a suitor?
Harlow’s gut seized and his lungs felt faulty as he eyed the brunette all throughout dinner. He had questions.
But also…
“Everything all right, old chap?” Liam asked when dinner had ended and Harlow had barely said a word.
