Page 69 of The Duke and the Temporary Bride

Selina’s stomach sank, making room for her heart, which dropped just as quickly. She held her smile. She laughed and squeezed her husband’s hand lovingly. She made sure that anyone watching would not doubt for a second that the two of them were as in love and infatuated with one another as any couple could dream… but inside, she was breaking.

“We are quite the actors.” She shifted her gaze to him and made sure he could see her smile, the hope being that he might seethroughit. “Now, come. I am thirsty, and you have not even offered to fetch me a drink.”

“Shame on me.” He chuckled. “What sort of husband am I?”

“Not a very good one. But there is time to fix it,” she added with a wink.

They made their way through the ballroom, not letting go of each other’s hands for so much as a second. The plan was to stick together tonight as if they were joined at the hip, to be seen as inseparable, utterly infatuated in that way that newlyweds so often were.

It might have been painful if there wasn’t a grain of truth behind the facade. But despite the words that the two spoke, Selina was becoming more and more certain that her husband was not being entirely honest with her.

Nor am I with him, for that matter.

“Selina!” she heard her mother’s voice cut through the crowd just as they plucked two wine glasses off a passing tray.

“Oh, excellent,” Selina sighed without looking.

“Were you not in tears to see her go just two days ago?” Benedict teased.

“Well… yes, but that was then, and this is now.” Selina smiled as her mother moved through the throng of partygoers, waving her over without bothering to close the distance. “As it turns out, two days is nowhere near long enough.”

Benedict laughed. “Oh, she is not that bad.”

“She is going to ask you for a favor. Just you wait and see.”

“I have no doubt. Now…” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, and that kiss alone was enough to brighten the sullen mood that was threatening to engulf her. The feel of his lips on her skin made her heart race in ways she was all too familiar with. “Be nice.”

Selina eyed him curiously. He was just playing his role, of course, but there had to be more to it than that. These past two days, putting aside the previous evening, he had been different. She was sure of it.

Is it possible that he and I are of the same mind? And that we are both just too scared to say it? Surely not.

“There you are,” Lady Langham said as she swept toward them. She leaned forward and kissed Selina on the cheek. “I was wondering if you were going to attend.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Selina asked.

“No reason.” Lady Langham shrugged. “Your Grace,” she then said with an over-the-top smile. “Still treating my daughter well, I hope?”

“Like a queen, as she deserves.”

“Quite.” She tittered. “I must say, the two of you have caused quite the stir here tonight. Quite the stir. Disbelief is one word I would use…” She gestured around the room.

Selina caught a group of lords watching them both.

“It should not be,” she said rightly. “And I would hope that you will tell anyone who asks that this right here is the norm. Benedict and I are…” She swallowed, and her heart began to race again. “In love. Is that not right, dear?”

“Horribly in love,” Benedict confirmed as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “And horribly happy, too.”

“Nice choice of words.” Selina chuckled.

“You know I am more about action than words, dear,” he spoke loudly, as if hoping those who were standing close might hear. “Speaking of which…” He looked at her, and she frowned as she tried to decipher the look in his eyes.

He pumped his eyebrows, licked his lips, and then, leaned in and kissed her on the cheek as his hand squeezed her waist and pulled her to him.

It was not their first kiss by any stretch of the imagination. It was not even a kiss on the lips! But that did not seem to matter.

Perhaps Selina was just imagining it? Perhaps she was transplanting her feelings and suspicions into her husband’s kiss? Whatever it was… that little kiss on the cheek struck her in a way she had not expected.

There was no burning passion behind it. No ravenous delight, no amorous elicitation, no sense that the two were about to give in to their most base instincts in a way that would see them quickly leaving the ballroom lest they begin to ravage one another in front of everyone.

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