Page 79 of Yours Truly, the Duke
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Jane nodded to Fredericka before turning and disappearing into the crowd.
After she was a safe distance away, Fredericka looked softly at Wyatt. “Thank you for joining us. I can’t believe we were both so nice to her.”
“You know what is said about keeping your enemies close. But, we are not going to think about Jane any more tonight. Come with me to the dance floor. I’ve asked they play a waltz. I want to feel you in my arms and I want everyone to see you in my arms.”
Expectancy shortened Fredericka’s breaths. The meaning of his words settled deeply inside.
His eyes looked so dreamily into hers. “Dance with me, Fredericka. I’m happy you came, and I want everyone to know it.”
“Yes,” she answered softly.
“And, Fredericka,” he spoke softly, “tonight isn’t for the children. It’s for you to be with me.”
Dressed as a princess, standing beneath lighted crystal chandeliers with the most handsome man in attendance, holding out his hand for her, Fredericka had never felt more precious in her life. It was a dream come true, and while she was dreaming, maybe she wasn’t in his way now that she was living with him in London. And just maybe she’d found a home where she could one day have not only her nieces and nephew but also a true husband to love her and children of her own.
She reached out and took Wyatt’s hand.
CHAPTER 22
THE MICHAELMAS DAISY
—ANON.
Thy tender blush, thy simple frame,
Unnoticed have pass’d;
But now thou com’st with softer claim,
The loveliest and the last.
One lone lamp burned in the vestibule when Wyatt and Fredericka entered the house. Though it was near dawn and cold as a deep wintery night, Wyatt immediately swung his cloak off his shoulders and placed it onto a chair. His body was tired from all his hectic training sessions and the long evening, but inside he felt good. The reason was because of the lady standing beside him, quietly watching him remove his gloves while she waited patiently for him to help with her wrap.
It puzzled him that he enjoyed watching her watch him do something so ordinary. That made him smile and want to remove her cape and everything else she was wearing and, well… He’d been having fleeting stray thoughts like that all evening. Since he’d known her actually. There was a dazzling innocence about her that kept drawing him even as he tried to continue his life as usual and keep his distance from her. She wasn’t supposed to be on his mind. She wasn’t even supposed to beliving with him. But that thought crossed his mind less than it should.
“I’m amazed at how long we stayed at the ball,” Fredericka said, hugging her velvety black cape tightly at the neckline as if to ward off the early morning chill. “I never expected we would be some of the last people to leave.”
Wyatt dropped his gloves and scarf on top of his cloak. “I have to admit, I’ve never stayed so long at a ball.”
“I find that astonishing, considering how many you’ve probably attended. I hope you were having a delightful time and didn’t stay just for me.”
“Both,” he answered honestly. “I had a good time, and stayed just for you. Is anything wrong with me wanting to please you?”
She continued to smile softly at him. “Nothing, since you were enjoying yourself. It was most gratifying to find I wasn’t as terrible at dancing as I thought.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Perhaps you never had the right partner and I’m the one who made it so easy for you tonight.”
By the way her eyes narrowed and sparkled, he knew she hadn’t thought of that possibility.
“That’s probably true.” She hesitated a moment and then, with a childlike wonder in her expression, added, “Thank you, Wyatt. This was the best night of my life.”
An instant tightness grabbed his chest. He was touched by the truthfulness in her words and sincerity in her tone. Of all the wild, wicked, and even heroic things he’d done, he’d never had anyone tell him he’d given them the best night of their life.
“I suppose that sounds dramatic to you, but it’s true,” she added almost shyly, as if suddenly feeling embarrassed she’d let her true feelings escape.
Her words were humbling, and he was at a loss what to say as she continued on.
