Page 65 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

His remark was uttered with such casual elan that Alice could not help the giggle that bubbled up her throat.

“There, that is much better than the stiff face with which you greeted me earlier.” Her partner smiled most encouragingly at her. “If you can just keep smiling and looking as if you are having a wonderful time, that would be for the best.”

Alice shook her head. “Right now, my knees are knocking together so badly that I fear I am going to topple over.”

“Now, that would be a sight worth watching.”

She glared helplessly at him, and he only grinned back at her, ever the charming Wolf that he was. However, unlike the flurry of butterflies inspired by even the smallest smirk from Colin, she found no such thing happening with Ethan. He was more like a brother or a friend—albeit a funny one. The comfort she derived from his company was not so very different from what she felt with Phoebe or Scarlett.

Ethan continued to regale her with short funny stories from his Grand Tour, and Alice found herself leaning more into the retelling of the adventures he had with Colin. She had a great suspicion, though, that these versions had been heavily watered down for her benefit.

She was still smiling and barely restraining her giggles when they finally made it to the ballroom, where Colin and the Dowager Countess stood by the door to personally greet their guests as they arrived.

When she saw him, her heart thudded so loudly in her chest that she could scarcely hear anything else. Tonight, he was dressed most elegantly in a black jacket that contrasted with the snowy white linen of his shirt.

From within the folds of his cravat winked a large emerald, and when she looked up to him, she found his lips curled slightly into a smile as he gazed back at her, his dark blue-gray eyes seemingly drinking her in.

For a moment, it seemed as if they were the only people in the ballroom. The chatter of the guests faded away into the background, and she was made even more keenly aware of the man before her.

Just then, she heard Ethan laugh at something the Dowager Countess said, and she blinked, reeling slightly when she felt herself being jolted back into the present.

Almost instantaneously, she saw Colin’s sensual lips press into a thin line, and his dark eyes were utterly cold as he stared back at her.

“I hope you enjoy the night, My Lady,” he told her in a glacial tone.

Recalling what Ethan had told her earlier, she lifted her chin and met his gaze with her own smiling one. “Thank you so much, Your Grace. Lady Wellington has taken great care to arrange this ball, so I am certain that I will find myself satisfied with tonight’s revelry.”

She did not say anything more when Ethan led her away from their hosts, choosing to give him one last look over her shoulder as she walked away from him. When she turned away, she could positively feel his gaze boring into her back.

“Marvelous job, My Lady,” Ethan praised under his breath. “You have greatly unsettled him with your appearance alone. That is very good.”

“Somehow, I do not think that baiting a Wolf is a good idea…”

The Duke of Sinclair let out a soft chuckle and winked at her. “Oh, we are going to do more of that later, so keep your chin up and do not falter! It takes courage to capture a Wolf and tame him.”

“But I do not want to tame him,” she protested. “I… very much like him as he is—thorns and all.”

She saw his eyes soften.

“If there is ever anything else you must remember, My Lady, it is this,” he told her solemnly. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to my friend. He has needed someone like you for as long as I can remember.”

Alice pressed her lips and hung her head slightly, blinking away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.

“I do not think he feels the same way about it,” she whispered brokenly.

“He does,” Ethan assured her. “He is just being an extremely obstinate idiot right now.”

She could not help but laugh at that, but her heart soared with hope at his words. He was right—Colin could be rather obstinate, but then so was she.

And if she was ever going to fail, she would do it knowing that she tried her best and gave it everything she had. Nothing less would do.

* * *

“You know, that could have been you.”

Colin frowned as he glanced at his grandmother smiling at the couple on the dance floor. Alice was absolutely breathtaking in a peach-colored gown studded with tiny pearls. When she stood before him earlier, he could not help but admire the soft swell of her breasts peeking over the neckline of her bodice. Now, the thought of his friend enjoying that very same view lit anger in his veins that he kept telling himself he had no right to be feeling.

Three more weeks, three more weeks, he chanted inwardly, reminding himself that this was nothing more than a fake betrothal and that it was in Alice’s best interests that he let her go.

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