Page 19 of His Grace, the Duke
She lowered her hands but kept her chest puffed out and her chin raised in defiance. “You heard me. James is off limits,” she declared. “If you are so determined to seek justice for what we did, then punishme.”
Behind Burke, Renley groaned, keeping a firm hold on his friend’s shoulder.
“Consider me in your debt. You can choose—”
“Deal,” Burke said, even before she’d finished the offer.
She blinked. “Deal? But—”
“I accept,” he repeated, those stormy eyes luring her in.
She frowned. “Given your penchant for tricks, I can only imagine what awaits. Will you make me perform a duet again before the entire house party? Make me recite poetry? No embarrassment should be off limits—”
Burke let out a vicious laugh.
“Burke,” James warned.
Burke ignored him, inching closer. “You say ‘punish me’ in that siren’s tone, and you truly expect me to make your punishmentpublic?” He stepped into her, lowering his mouth toher ear. “There is no world in which I would waste this chance on another piano duet.”
A shiver coursed through her.
“Burke, that’s enough,” James muttered, his grip on her loosening slightly. In that moment, she realized she was still pressed against him. She tried to shift away, but he held her still.
“She started it,” Burke replied.
“I don’t need her fighting my battles,” James countered. “If you need to thrash me to get a little of your own back, then do it.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Rosalie huffed. “We have much more important matters to discuss tonight. For starters—”
“I am not engaged!” Renley barked.
Rosalie blinked, swallowing the rest of her sentence. They all turned to look at Renley.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I know this wasn’t about me yet, but I was dying holding it in and, well, it’s not true.”
“What?” James said at the same time Burke muttered, “Oh, thank Christ.”
Rosalie took a breath. “But . . . Marianne said—”
“She lied,” Renley pressed. “She was confused about how we left things last week. And I think perhaps she was jealous when she saw us dancing together—”
“Of course, she was jealous,” Burke said with a scowl. “She meant to put Rosalie in her place. I hope you shredded her to ribbons. Is that what took you so long today?”
“Wait, what the hell did I miss now?” James growled, looking between the three of them.
Rosalie felt dizzy. Renley had yet to look away. Thosedepthless blue eyes were locked on her, his expression open and pleading. He wasn’t engaged. Marianne lied.
“Are we finished now?” Burke pressed, angling himself towards Renley. “Can we finally put Marianne behind us for good?”
Renley nodded. “It’s finished. I told her in no uncertain terms that we’re done.”
Beside her, Rosalie felt James stiffen. “But she told Rosalie you were engaged last night? She actually spun such a lie?”
Renley nodded, his gaze back on Rosalie. “And I’m so sorry. God, you have no idea—if I’d known last night—”
“It doesn’t matter,” she murmured. This was all too much to handle. She needed food. She needed sleep. She needed one blessed moment to collect her thoughts without one of these men trying to tip her world off its axis with new proclamations.
“Itdoesmatter,” Renley said, taking her hand in both of his. “Rosalie, I—”
