Page 68 of Married to the Cruel Duke

“It means a lot to hear that. I hope that means you will consider my request.”

He smiled. “I would be happy to talk about it as soon as you tell me what it is.”

“I was thinking, maybe if it isn’t too much trouble, we could host a dinner party?” she squeaked out, hands toying with her skirt as she chewed on her lip.

He hesitated. “Rebecca, I don’t know about that. It has been some time since I went to anything like that let alone hosted it. I don’t mean to discourage you. I just want to make sure you’ve thought about this. It would be a lot.”

“I understand, and I don’t want to push it, but I really want to try and host something. It wouldn’t be anything big. Just a few people. It wouldn’t be a ball or anything either. All I want is a simple dinner party I promise to keep the guest list short.”

He hesitated but didn’t say no. Instead, he asked, “Why don’t we talk about this a bit more first.”

“Of course,” she lit up. “What do you want to know?”

“Why don’t we start with something simple? Who all would you want to invite?”

“I wanted to start small, so I only had a few people in mind. Just Penelope, her mother, and Patrick, as well as Patrick’s wife if he has one. I can’t remember if you mentioned one or not, I’m sorry. And I seem to be rambling a bit now. Sorry. I will give you a minute to collect your thoughts,” she winced, falling silent.

William frowned. For a moment Rebecca was sure he was about to say no. She opened her mouth to tell him it was all right and they could do something else instead. After all, the last thing she wanted was to make him uncomfortable.

Besides, she probably wasn’t even ready for this. What was she even thinking asking? She needed more time, andmore experience before she could even consider something like this.

But then he said, “If we are going to do this, you should invite your father and sister as well.”

She lit up. “You mean I can do it?”

“As long as you keep it small, I see no harm in it.”

“Oh, thank you, William! I promise I will do a good job putting it together,” she raced forward, pulling him into a tight embrace.

William stiffened, arms hovering awkwardly in the air. After a moment, he wrapped them around her though they lay stiff and unsure on her shoulders.

The hug went on longer than usual, nerves growing in Rebecca’s chest the longer she stood there. She had expected him to pull back almost as soon as she had leaned in, but he hadn’t. Time ticked by but both of them still stood there.

Maybe she should pull away now?

Before she could move, he did. Pulling back, William straightened out his jacket.

“I have no doubt that you will do a wonderful job,” he said, with a tight smile. “But before we go on, I would like to talk about it a bit more.”

“Of course,” she said, taking her seat beside him. “I would be more than happy to tell you whatever you want to know or let you decide any details you need to to feel comfortable with this.”

“I don’t need to give you my opinion on every little thing. The main thing I was worried about was the size.”

“Then what else do you want to talk about?”

“When did you want to do this? did you already have a day in mind or did you need help coming up with one?”

Rebecca smiled. “I was going to ask Mrs. Anderson for help with that if you said yes, but there’s no reason the two of us can’t start on that if you want to help.”

“I think I would like that.”

He smiled. “Me too.”

“Why don’t we start with the day? Are there any days you already have plans?”

He thought for a moment, “I don’t think I have anything coming up for at least the next month or so. Or were you thinking of doing it further in the future than that?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know exactly how long it takes to put something like this together.”

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