Page 38 of A Chance to Dance with the Duke
Those questions started to bubble, but never made it past her lips, because his next words stumped her. “Do you enjoy dancing?”
She blinked. He wasn’t mocking her. She knew this now.
“Because it occurred to me that I owe you a dance,” he said. “I don’t know if…”
His gaze slid down to her leg. “Are you able?”
She gave a short nod. Her breathing felt shallow. It had little to do with the topic, and everything to do with his demeanor.
He was…nervous. And apparently it was catching.
“I’m able, and what’s more…I enjoy it.” She smiled at his surprise. “In the privacy of my own bedroom, that is.”
She expected him to smile. She’d hoped to make him laugh.
Instead, he grew more serious. “What else do you enjoy?”
She blinked in surprise, as much by his intensity as the question. “Pardon?”
He glanced around, and seemed to realize as she did that they were too close, and their presence together out here causing too much of a stir. “It occurred to me that if we’re going to be spending more time together, you ought to be enjoying yourself.”
“I have been,” she said with a laugh.
The laugh felt breathless. It was difficult to feel anything but this light, dizzying sensation when he looked at her as he was right now.
It was the same look from when they’d first met.
And from when he’d held her shivering in his arms.
It was the look that made her feel like she was seen and heard, and…like she mattered.
“As I watched you and Mr. Everson…” He gave his head a shake. “Forgive me. I’m speaking out of turn.”
Her eyes widened, and curiosity poked at her as he pinched his lips shut. “Well, you cannot stop now. As you watched me and Mr. Everson…” she prompted.
“I’m sure he’s a pleasant chap,” he started. “However, what I noticed most of all was that he was…” His jaw worked. “He treated you differently.”
She blinked. Hehad, hadn’t he? It was in a kind way as he took pains to ensure her comfort. But sometimes that was the worst way of all.
Her lips parted. She was stunned. Not because he’d seen Mr. Everson’s deference to her limp, which bordered on patronizing, but that he’d understood how little she enjoyed it.
Truthfully she’d rather be mocked than pitied, and she’d always opted to be ignored than to be either.
“Do you enjoy mingling in crowds like that, or?—”
“No.” She answered so quickly, they both laughed. She ducked her head, and added, “I’m painfully aware of my limp, you see.”
“Yes, that’s understandable. But you’d said yes to dancing.”
“Only because of that dare. Because…I’d wanted to be brave.”
“And you were,” he said.
A silence fell.
“Make a list.” It was a command, not a suggestion, and her brows arched at the change in his tone.
“Pardon?”
