Page 40 of How to Seduce a Duke this Autumn
“Oh, absolutely not.” Maddie plopped onto a nearby bench. “This is far too interesting. Weren’t you finished with the duke’s family? Though, if you ask me, the duke is far from his brother. He’s more handsome, better-educated, more eloquent, and such a good dancer. I saw you two at the masquerade.”
Charlene turned, exasperated. “It’s not interesting. And they might not be the exact same, but they are twins, and they share the same blood.”
Maddie tapped her chin. “And yet, I find you here, sighing like a tragic heroine, looking haunted by the mere thought of him.”
Charlene’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I loathe him.”Because he doesn’t feel about me the way I feel about him.
“Do you, though?”
“I am not discussing this with you.”
Maddie’s voice followed her as Charlene stormed away. “You can run, darling, but you cannot hide from that man. He seems determined to rekindle your friendship.”
Charlene groaned.
Charlene sighed. She was beginning to think she couldn’t hide from Adam, either. However, what if she did let him into her life again? If he ever betrayed her, hurt her, wouldn’t she be the only one to blame?
Maddie watched her carefully, a knowing glint in her eye. “You’re thinking awfully hard over there.”
Charlene shook her head. “I’m thinking that you should mind your own herb-like business.”
Maddie grinned. “Oh, but your business is so much more interesting than mine. But I’m more than happy to use my potion business to help you out. Just tell me what you need.”
Charlene huffed a reluctant laugh, but her thoughts still swirled. What if Adam was different? Not his bloodline, not his past, not the history between them, but him? The man he was now. What if he was not the villain she had painted in her mind?
Hadn’t she felt it herself—the warmth in his laughter, the steadiness in his presence?
But there was risk in letting him in.
Charlene exhaled, long and slow.
Some risks were just not worth taking.
*
Adam fell downonto the settee, throwing an arm over his face. He had gone to the park with the intention of seeing her, yes, but not like that. Whatever you could call “that” was. Not touching her before he could stop himself. Not by pushing his luck. Not by making a fool of himself.
He had raked those infernal leaves for her. He hadn’t thought so at the time, but he felt like a fool. A besotted fool. What madness had possessed him, he didn’t know.
Charlene was not a woman to play around with. She possessed a soft heart, sharp-tongued, stubborn nature, and she had made it exceedingly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him.
And yet—
Yet, she had laughed today.
A true, unguarded laugh. And save him, he had lived a hundred lifetimes in that sound.
Ah yes, he was a fool. An absolute, irredeemable fool.
Because he wanted to hear that laugh again.
No, not just hear it—he wanted to be the reason for it.
And that? That was the most dangerous thought of all. Given their history, and her reservations toward him and his family, it might end only in torture for him. Because if he wanted more, if he let himself believe, even for a moment, that she might let him in—
Then there would be no coming back from it.
And then there was that woman.
