Page 12 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
Her eyes lit with fire, and she gave chase, calling out for him to turn around.
Once he heard her shouting, he acquiesced immediately. He slowed down, tilted his head as if in thought, and then turned to find her coming in hot and angry.
The night was dark, the Earl was darker, so all she could see were his eyes which glimmered as they found her. And, as she was starting to expect from him, there was his mocking smile front and center.
“What was that!” she demanded as she came for him.
He said nothing.
“Well?” she continued when she reached him, coming to a stop just a few feet away. He was still too dark to make out clearly, but she saw now the smirk he wore to match that found in his eyes. “Do you have nothing to say?”
He made no reply. He just stood there, grinning at her, letting her anger mount to such a point that her entire body started to tremble from it.
She widened her eyes at him, more furious than ever because it felt like he was mocking her. Worse, she felt like a child being judged by an adult for something that was not her fault. As if he felt little more for her than pity.
“I did not steal from you,” she snapped, needing to break the silence. “That music box was mine by rights and you know it was.”
Still, he remained silent. Head tilted, studying her through the night. No sense that he was surprised to find her there. No sense that he found her tone or accusations disrespectful. Again, it was as if he thought so little of her that he could not bring himself to react.
“You were the one trying to steal from me,” she continued, the anger fading because she was starting to feel like this was a terrible idea. “I… I had already said I was going to buy it. You were the one… the rack of lamb… if you had said you wished for a particular cut, I would have… you know I did nothing wrong!”
Finally, he spoke. “Is that what this is about? You need me to assure you that you did nothing wrong? You followed me out here, in the dead of night, in the cold, so I would ease your conscience?”
“Yes!”
He chuckled darkly. “Is your ego so fragile that you need it massaged?”
“I…” She balked. “This is not about my ego.”
“Then what is it about?”
She scowled, trying to hold onto that anger. “I do not appreciate being accused of something I did not do. Just as I would appreciate you not acting so… so…”
“So what?”
“So smug!”
He narrowed his eyes, and she felt a chill. As if he controlled the storm and was focusing it right on her. “You are quite tempestuous, you know.”
“I am not.”
“And quite unruly. Do you want my advice? Be glad that I chose to keep your behavior to myself, rather than having to explain to your parents the type of daughter they have raised.”
Alison balked at the comment. “I did nothing wrong. You are the one who –”
“Is trying to return home peacefully. An action made all the more difficult by your pestering.” He glowered at her in warning, and she felt a shiver run through her body. Not fear… but something else.
“All I want is an apology,” she said, but without the same command that she had earlier. His hardened stare unsettled her, and she felt the sudden desire to turn and flee as if for her own safety. “Do that, and I will happily let you go home in peace.”
“Let me?”
“Yes.” She widened her eyes at him. “I am not someone who you can simply bully into submission. I am in the right, and until you admit it, I am not going anywhere.”
“Please…” He gritted his teeth, and she saw his hands begin to tremble. “Go home, Lady Alison. I assure you that it is for the best.”
“I will not.”
“Just as I will not apologize.”
