Page 58 of Seduced By the Rakish Duke

His low chuckle slid over her skin like silk, making goosebumps rise on her arms.

It’s just a cool night,she told herself as she rubbed her arms to ward off the chill.

“I see you still speak your mind.”

“I see you’re still being obtuse and insufferable.”

Why must he stand behind her, towering over her? Her heart and mind were warring with each other. Not seeing him was wreaking havoc on her nerves, but seeing him would send her into a spiral of pain.

Unfortunately for her, he took matters into his own hands and finally walked around the bench and sat next to her.

Neither of them looked at each other, each staring into the darkened garden in front of them. The tension between them was palpable, causing her heart to beat wildly in her chest.

“I hear congratulations are in order.” His voice was low and gruff, devoid of emotion.

Jenny sat taller. “Yes, I suppose so. Thank you.” She dropped her eyes to her balled fists in her lap.

David stood up abruptly, startling her. He stomped towards the darkened garden only to spin back around. “You’re truly going to marry him?”

Jenny swallowed. She could only nod her head, afraid she’d say something they’d both regret if she opened her mouth.

David ran a hand through his hair and then put his hands on his hips, staring back at her.

“Wh—why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like. What?” he gritted out.

“Like you’re either going to eat me or attack me.” Her voice was so low she wasn’t sure he heard her.

She watched as his throat worked and his jaw ticked. His dark eyes bored into her soul, and she felt as if he could read her every insecurity, every secret. She shifted in her seat, unable to shake off the intensity of his stare.

Finally, she had enough. She rose from the bench.

“Fine. Don’t answer.” She looked up at the night sky, raising her hands in question. “I don’t know why I keep expecting anything different from you. You do as you wish when you wish it, leaving me to scurry around, picking up little tidbits of information and trying to put them together to understand just a small part of you,” she huffed and marched right up to him.

“Well, as you pointed out, I have a future now, and I no longer have to sit around, waiting for the Duke of Marlow to grace me with a nod or conversation. I have someone whowantsme, whoacknowledgesme.”

Her tears threatened to fall, but she pushed through, using the ache in her chest as fuel. Without thinking, she brought her hands up and pushed him. To their surprise, David staggered back a few steps.

“He doesn’t play with my emotions,” she cried. Her tears spilled over—she couldn’t stop them.

She wanted the tears. Let him see what he had done to her. She wanted to finally say all the things that she had bottled up inside of her to finally free herself from the pain she’d lived with for the past few weeks.

“He doesn’t say one thing and then do another. He doesn’t make me feel one way only to turn around and hurt me in the next breath.”

He doesn’t make me feel anything.

Jenny pushed that thought aside. Her sobs began to die down.

“He is the perfect match for me,” she whispered.

She had hoped to hurt David like she was hurting, but he stood there, unmoved.

The fight quickly left her body. Her arms now hung limp at her sides. Her words surprised her—she hadn’t realized how much this was eating away at her.

“Why?” Her voice cracked. “Why? Just tell me why. Why did you dismiss me? Why did you push me away? Am I not good enough for you? Is it because of my background? My personality? My looks?”

She searched his eyes. She wanted to believe there was pain in them, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. David continued to look down at her, his body rigid and still. Even with the anger, frustration, and hurt, she wouldn’t be able to push him now.

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