Page 28 of Yours Truly, the Duke
If he hadn’t been so tempted by her innocent and unintended charm, as well as her acceptance of his advance, he wouldn’t know how yielding and deliciously sweet her lips were. He wouldn’t know how effortlessly and perfectly she fit into his arms, or how comfortable she felt pressed against his chest. As it was, sometimes he’d awakened at night and thought he heard her soft breaths and murmured sighs so close to his ear he could almost swear she was in the bed beside him.
It was maddening how often she’d been on his mind these past weeks. When he made the decision to marry and fulfill the requirement of his grandmother’s will, he hadn’t expected to be musing over his wife at all upon returning to London.
But he had.
It didn’t take much to remind him of Fredericka. Such simple things as the cool of day, the warmth of the sun, and a bouquet of spring flowers would bring her to mind. It was much easier to push thoughts of her asidewhen he was in the middle of a heated fencing match, watching horses race, trying to outwit his opponent in a card game, or playing his heart out in a cricket match. But on a night like this, with lovely ladies all around, he found himself wondering how he would feel if Fredericka were by his side giving him intimate little smiles, or inviting sidelong glances and come-hither expressions from across the room.
“Rick says no, Wyatt. What do you think?” Hurst asked.
“Remind me of the question,” Wyatt replied with a guilty grin.
“You weren’t listening to us,” Hurst grumbled. “I thought as much. I asked if you see a young lady here tonight I should consider giving up my bachelorhood for?”
“Any of them and all of them,” Wyatt answered, scanning the room filled with belles who were looking to make a match before the Season was over.
“They do get more beautiful each year.”
“Bloody hell, Hurst.” Rick snorted. “You are getting older each year. If you would get yourself a mistress, as most respectable men do, you wouldn’t always be dreaming of finding that true love you’re expecting to discover behind every lace fan. Chances are the feeling isn’t real anyway. If it is…” He paused and downed a good portion of his champagne. “I don’t think it will come from among ladies who are promenaded before us during the marriage mart.”
Rick looked at Wyatt as if waiting for him to back up his lecture to Hurst. Wyatt hesitated, and Rick must have assumed he knew why.
“You do still have a mistress, don’t you?” he asked.
“I haven’t seen her lately,” he admitted, disinterested in the subject.
A knowing look passed between Hurst and Rick.
“Because you’re married?” Rick asked, as if the very idea was a piece of foreign matter to him.
Deceiving his friends had never been easy, but the truth was he didn’t know why he hadn’t been to see her. It was best to give them an answer that would be hard for them to swallow. “I’ve been busy.”
Hurst chuckled and brushed his pale-blond hair away from his forehead.
Rick sent him a mocking smile of laughter. “Hell, no. Too busy to see a woman for an hour or two of pleasure? What’s it been? Five or six weeks since you returned to London? Longer?”
“A month,” Wyatt offered.
Rick glanced over to Hurst. “What’s the life of a gentleman coming to in England? This?” He pointed at Wyatt with the hand holding his glass. “A man who won’t enjoy what God, nature, and mankind gave him?”
Wyatt and Hurst remained silent.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two,” Rick complained with a scoff. “Both of you are taking women far too seriously.”
It was time to change the subject, so Wyatt asked, “How are wagers coming along for the shooting match tomorrow?”
Rick downed the last of the drink in his glass. “Looks as if we’ll have a fine day for all festivities. You feeling confident about the card game afterward?”
Wyatt nodded. “I heard Lord Tartanville brought in a marksman from Oxford to enter the match. There’s talk the earl insists this man is better than you with pistol and bow.”
Rick’s brows rose and he smiled confidently. “I hadn’t heard but not surprised. Someone is always trying to bestme. The stronger the competition, the more bets will be placed. The more bets, the more money we win for the Brass Deck to give away. Unless…” Rick paused and shot Wyatt a devilish glance. “If you’re worried I’ll lose, you can always bet against me.”
Wyatt chuckled derisively. “What would you do if I did?”
“What I always do.…” Rick paused just long enough to make his point. “Win.”
“Don’t go further with this conversation,” Hurst chimed, quick to keep peace between the two men who didn’t always see eye to eye on things even though their brotherly love was never questioned.
“It’s just getting interesting,” Rick said half-jokingly.
