Page 60 of His Scandalous Viscountess
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Julia waited upstairs in Wolf’s town house. Well…theirtownhouse now. Or it would be shortly. The swirling in her gut reminded her of the time she’d eaten a bad egg as a girl. Shoving the unsavory thought aside, she focused on getting through the next several hours. She had vowed to never be so reliant on a man again, but here she was once more, shackling herself to one. Except she reminded herself that he was no ordinary man. He was her friend. Her lover. She had once been in love with him.Ugh.It was the same conversation—slightly varied—that she’d been having for the last three days as they’d planned their wedding.
To her surprise, once she’d agreed, he’d tried to push for a grand affair. Terrified she would balk before such a production could occur, she had insisted on a small, private ceremony. She needed the wedding to happen quickly, before she could do something foolish, like change her mind.
Her palms had grown sweaty and her face felt hot, as though her cheeks were flushed, and her body was covered in chills.
It was nerves.
Normal bridal jitters.
Ros walked up the stairs and found her heading the wrong direction. “Julia!”
Her sister whispering her name stopped her cold. She turned to face her. “I was just going to make sure I didn’t forget my handkerchief.”
Ros stood there, one eyebrow lifted. “The one crumpled in your hand?”
She sighed. “Very well. But this is a mistake. I cannot do this.”
He will change the moment I say I do.
Her sister snorted. “And why not? You managed to go through with marrying that doddering old fool Wallthorpe.”
“I was angry and hurt then. Devastated when Wolf deserted me. So numb from it all I didn’t care what happened at that point.”
Julia hated reliving the hopelessness she’d felt in the days after Wolf had left her standing on a dark London street corner alone. That moment had killed every romantic notion she’d ever harbored. And here she was relying on the very same man to save her from yet another Wallthorpe.
Or more accurately, from the very same one who had wreaked havoc on her life once before.
Her breath stalled in her chest as her body tensed and her thoughts raced. She kept telling herself to calm down, but it was as if her mind was on a runaway locomotive with no emergency brake.
“Julia, he’s your best friend.”
Sometimes it was hard to remember that Ros was her younger sister.
“Was. Once, long ago.” Her breathing came in harsh pants as her stomach twisted in knots.
What am I doing?
“You have been lovers for weeks now. Clearly there is some spark left between the pair of you.”
Pink blossomed high on Ros’ cheeks.
Julia couldn’t hide her surprise. “You know?”
“Only a blind man would miss the obvious attraction between you.”
“I don’t trust him.” Her heart ached at the words, but she said them loudly and clearly, as though they weren’t a lie.
Take a deep breath. Remember, it is Wolf you are marrying, not Wallthorpe.
Ros shook her head. “Youdotrust him. You simply must let yourself do so.”
Panic set in then. The ache in her heart turned into a painful squeezing that robbed the air from her chest. She drew a breath, but could barely collect a lungful, and tried to draw another. The heat in her face seemed to grow hotter.
What if marrying him ruins everything? What if I lose my best friend?
Finally, unnerved by the continued standoff between heart and mind, she yelled at Ros, “I don’t love him!”
