Page 64 of The Duke on Her List
He wanted to say something. He wanted to ask her whether it was what she had hoped it would be. He wanted to find out if she’d enjoyed it, and even—maybe—if she wanted to do it again.
I’d love to do it again…
“That’s it,” she said quietly. “That’s the last thing on the list. Number five: kiss somebody.”
“So…the list is done.”
“It’s done,” she said.
His mind whirled. There was a feeling of triumph—they had managed it, they had done everything they’d set out to do. But there was something else lurking within him, too. Something deeper. More unpleasant.
She turned her head, breaking eye contact. “So…I’ve completed my list,” she said. “And you’ve done what you set out to do and convinced the ton that they’re wasting their time in pursuing you. You’ve gotten people to lose interest in you.”
“Yes.” It sickened him to say the word, because now, suddenly, he could see where they were heading.
“We finished the agreement,” she said. “We did everything we planned. Everything we promised one another we would do.”
Gabriel nodded slowly—there was no denying it.
“Which means…it’s time for this to end.” She looked up at him, clearly waiting to see how he was going to respond.
And what could he possibly say?
He didn’t want it to end. He knew that now. He wanted more. He wanted another kiss, another chance to hold her in his arms, another shared moment like the one they had just enjoyed. He wanted as many more of them as he could get.
But she didn’t.
She had finally explained it all to him. He finally understood. As romantic as her heart might be, she couldn’t allow herself to fall in love. Not really. It was too dangerous for her, given her past and all that she had been through. She wouldn’t want to take that risk now.
And here she was, standing in front of him and telling him that it was time for things to be over between them. As much as he wanted to argue, there was simply no argument to be made. If she was done, then they were done, and that was the end of it.
Though it went against everything in him, he forced himself to nod. “I suppose it is time,” he agreed, wondering whether it was possible to choke on words.
She looked down at her feet. He had the sense she was composing herself, perhaps trying to master some emotion. But when she looked up again, her eyes were clear.
“Thank you,” she said. “I can’t tell you how wonderful this experience has been. Truly. It’s meant the world to me. And I’m so grateful to have had the chance to complete my list. Five experiences I’d never have been able to have without your help.”
“Oh, you would have,” he countered. “If there’s one thing I know about you, Agnes, it’s that you find a way. You would have found a way, whether you and I had met or not.”
“Well…even so, I’m grateful,” she told him.
“It was my pleasure,” he said, and he meant it. More than she could possibly have known, he meant it. Every moment of their agreement had been a wonderful experience, and one he knew he’d treasure for the rest of his life.
And now it was ending. His heart ached. His stomach churned.
There had to be something. There had to be some words he could say right now that would forestall this, save the two of them from what currently felt inevitable. There had to be a way to keep things going. What hadn’t he thought of?
He closed his eyes.
There was nothing.
Of course, there was nothing. This was it.
She took a deep breath. “You’re welcome to stay,” she said. “I mean…I’m not trying to send you off just like that. If you’d like to finish your tea…”
He was already shaking his head. “No,” he said. “No, I don’t think we should prolong this. We’ve finished what we set out to do, and I should be on my way.”
“Of course,” she murmured, looking down.
