Page 59 of The Duke on Her List
But he held on. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said firmly. “I don’t know how you found out it was going to rain, but you’re right. The sky’s going to split open at any moment.”
As if responding to his words, thunder boomed and the first drops began to fall.
She blinked the rain out of her eyes. “You don’t want to go to the ball,” she said. “Why not? Is it that you’re ready for the arrangement to come to an end?”
“Our arrangement?”
“I know people aren’t pursuing you the way they once did,” she said. “You don’t need this sham of a courtship anymore. I don’tknow why you’re keeping it going, but you certainly don’t need to do so for my sake.”
“And what about your list?” he asked her. “I know we can’t have finished it. We’ve only completed three items. How many are there in total?”
“We don’t have to finish the list,” she said. “Let go of my arm.”
He let go of it. “But this is what we said we were going to do,” he told her.
In the distance, lightning flashed.
“So that’s the reason?” she asked. “That’s why you’re still around, even though you don’t need a show of a courtship anymore? You’re trying to finish the list?”
“I…”
“If that’s what you want, let’s do it,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “The next item I had written down was to dance with someone in the rain. There’s never going to be a better opportunity for it than right now.”
He stared at her. The situation reshaped itself before his eyes.
“Is that why you wrote me the note saying that you thought it was going to rain?” he asked. And now, in spite of himself,a small smile was quirking the corners of his lips. “You were thinking about this.”
“I can’t predict the weather,” she said, which wasn’t an answer. “I didn’t know it was going to rain. I was guessing.”
“And you guessed right.” He took her hand, gently this time. “You thought I was going to cancel our outing because you were worried you’d miss the opportunity to check off a list item—is that right?”
“No.” It was little more than a stammer, but he was already pulling her into the steps of a dance. “I didn’t—it never occurred to me that we would be doing this. I didn’t think the rain would really come.”
“But I think you hoped it would,” he murmured, turning them slowly.
Her eyes dropped, raindrops clinging to her long lashes. She was beautiful in the rain, and Gabriel couldn’t help it—his heart beat faster. He picked up the pace of the steps a little bit, pulling them out from the house and into the grass. She came willingly, her gaze fixed on his, falling into the absurdity of the moment.
“You should have said something. You should really start telling me in advance what these list items are going to be so that we can plan more effectively. I wouldn’t have insisted that we go to the ball. We could have stayed here and done this instead.”
“But why?” she whispered, her gaze searching his. “You want to make an appearance. That’s what you asked me for in return for helping me with this list. It does you no good if we stay here. I don’t understand why you keep saying things like that.”
“Do I keep saying things like that?” He pivoted slowly, bringing her along with him. “When?”
“Always,” she said. “Every time I so much as mention the fact that we need to be more intentional about what we’re doing, you say we can throw caution to the wind. You want to make an impression on society, and so we should be out doing that. But instead, you want to waste time here.”
“Agnes,” Gabriel said, “don’tyouwant to finish your list?” He didn’t understand her objections. “I thought you said that was what was most important to you. You said that you wanted to complete every item on the list. And now you ask me why I bother?”
She bit her lip. “I understand,” she said. “You want to finish the list as quickly as possible, because then we can be done?—”
She didn’t finish her sentence. A sneeze cut her off.
He frowned. “Youareill,” he said. “You need to go back inside at once. This was foolish.”
“I’m not ill,” she protested.
“Don’t even try that,” he said. “I could see it in your face when I arrived, and I can see it now.”
She sneezed again, which only served to reinforce his point.
