Page 59 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
“One more,” he told the sleigh driver. “And slower this time. There is no rush.”
Daniel sat back across from her and the sleigh kicked back into motion. The track it followed wound its way around the outside of the town, the sun was just now reaching the middle of the sky, but it was still cold so that Alison was forced to pull the blanket up to her chin.
“Here…” Daniel moved to sit beside her, bringing his own blanket which he gently put over her lap.
“Oh, no, you do not have to –”
“For once, Lady Alison, will you just let me do a nice thing.” He wore a smile as he spoke, and his eyes glimmered in the sunlight.
She smiled back. “I suppose I can. I cannot help but think that you have earned it.”
“Finally,” he sighed, chuckling lightly. Then he spread the blanket over her, moving in close so that it covered his body also.
There he sat with his arm around her, but not in a way that was romantic per se. It felt more protective than anything, and he continued to look at her as he had been doing all day. Alison found his eyes, she blushed and looked away, then she dared a glance again to find him still watching.
For two days now, she had wondered so much about the other night. Mostly, how he had stopped himself and cursed his actions before walking away. He did not hate her. Rather, he hated himself, as if he was worried about what might happen.
Again, the need to protect was fighting against his desires. And Alison knew that if anything was to happen between them, that she needed to make him see that there was no need for him to fight with himself anymore. That he could no longer hurt her.
“I never got the chance to thank you,” she started, keeping the blankets pulled in close, meeting his eyes despite how difficult she found it.
“Thank me?”
She said, “For saving me yesterday.”
“Oh.” He shook his head. “There is no need to –”
“For once, Daniel, let me do a nice thing.” She grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes at her.
“You are welcome,” he said. “Let us hope it is the last time.”
“You were right,” she continued. “About everything. I should not have gone home as I did. I should not have…” She shook her head. “Been so quick to assume the worst of you.”
“Is that what you did?”
“Why do you think I went home?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You should know, however, not to take it personally. In fact, I want you to know that nothing I have said to you, or how I have behaved, has been because of you.”
“What does that mean?” He leaned back a little but kept his body close.
Alison hesitated, the intensity of the moment settling on her.
Alone as they were, sitting together, his arm around her, the beauty of the frozen landscape as their backdrop made her insides feel warm and she snuggled deeper into his side.
“I doubt you know much about my family,” she began softly, her breath misting as she spoke. “That being, Lord Pemberton and my brother and sisters.”
“I noticed before that you called him Lord Pemberton. And you repeated the name just now. Why?”
“He calls me Lady Alison,” she said bitterly. “Which is the entire point. I am happy for my mother, as I know she loves him, as he loves her. Just as I am happy because she loves her children by him…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “And it might sound selfish. It might strike you as immature. But when I see them all together, how close they are, I cannot help but think…” Her chin wobbled and she tried to keep it steady. “Why not me?”
“I don’t understand. I thought they were your half-siblings.”
“They are,” she said. “Even if it does not feel that way.”
“Are you saying they mistreat you?”
“No,” she sighed. “But Felix and Nerissa and Winnie are close, as you would expect. My mother dotes on them because she thinks she needs to. And in the process, I am forgotten. A fifth wheel on a carriage that is simply there but serves no purpose.”
“Lady Alison…”
