Page 64 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
For two years, he had done all he could to distance himself from those people, needing them to understand that he had no desire whatsoever to be thought of as the type who took pleasure in community. Even that Mrs. Hollingberry had come here to ask him, acting as if it was a natural thing to barge into his home, was proof that things had gone too far.
“Mrs. Hollingberry, I do appreciate the offer…” Daniel started, turning his voice cold and distant as he was used to doing. There was a perception of him in this county, and it needed to be enforced.
Only then, he caught sight of Alison beside him.
She looked eagerly between himself and Mrs. Hollingberry. A hopeful smile was on her lips. A glimmer of excitement shone in her eyes. He had no doubt that she wanted to attend, just as he had no doubt she would insist.
Daniel hesitated. He considered what would happen if she pushed the issue. They would argue, he knew for sure. They would fight. And whether he won or not was inconsequential because it would return them to how things had once been. And if that happened…
Daniel felt a pulse ripple through him. He felt his blood warm and his legs tremble. He dared a glance at Alison again, imagining the heat of argument, the need to control her, and what he would be willing to do if it came to that. His self-control… kept in check for so long… would surely falter, andwhen it did, he did not think he had it in him to stop a second time.
I have no choice. Suddenly I’m losing fights that I have not even started because the consequences of winning would be that much worse.
“As you say,” Daniel sighed. “If you wish us to attend, we shall do as you request.”
“Really?” Alison started in shock. “We will?”
“Assuming you wish to go?”
“I do,” she said quickly. “So much.”
He smiled awkwardly, his body still trembling with that urge to argue against her. “As do I,” he lied.
Was it a lie? Daniel believed it was, just as he believed he had no desire to attend this silly tradition. But it also warmed him to see Lady Alison so happy, just as it excited him to spend more time with her. Not a reaction he might have expected, but so much had changed these last few days where nothing made sense and everything surprised him.
“Friday, you said?” he asked Mrs. Hollingberry.
“Bright and early,” she said.
“Good.” He nodded once. “We will see you there.”
Chapter Twenty
“Knock, knock.” Alison stood at the open doorway to Daniel’s room.
He was standing in front of the mirror, double-checking his coat, scarf, and hair. When he heard her, he looked up and smiled. “Someone is learning.”
She shrugged. “I know how you hate being snuck up on.”
“It only took you two weeks, but better late than never.” He went back to the mirror, a final look as his ensemble. “I am just about ready, if that is what you are here for. Besides, I always believe in the term fashionably late.”
“No, that is not why I am here…” She lingered by the doorway, hesitant to enter.
“Oh?”
It was the strangest thing, but Alison had been plagued by guilt all day. She knew the reason for this but was no less surprised by its persistence. Not so long ago, she would have simply ignore it because she rather liked getting her way and did not think she was doing anything wrong. But times had since changed…
For a moment, she stayed where she was and watched the Earl get ready.
It was early morning, and the day was bright so the sun’s light spread through the room and warmed both it and the Earl in a way that made the scene glow before her eyes.
Her opinion of Daniel had changed so much these past two weeks. Once, she hated him. Once, she loathed the very idea of him. Once, she was so darn eager to see herself free from his clutches that she had put herself in real danger because of it. And she wondered now how she had been so blind.
This last week especially, Alison and Daniel had grown close. They spent every day together. They enjoyed one another’s company. And they never fought or argued. Sometimes, the ghost of a fight was there, lingering between them, but they were both wary of it and both seemed to understand the danger of doing such a thing.
For this reason, confrontations were avoided, and that action led to them getting to know one another in ways that might have once felt impossible. But that was also the problem.
In just two days, Alison’s family would be returning home. And as strange as it was to admit, she was not at all looking forward to their arrival. It made her realize how much she had come to covet the Earl’s company, just as it made her realize how good he had been to her.
