Page 12 of The Duke's Spinster

No, she would most certainly not visit with this man. He was dangerous. In ways she could not fully understand. So she made a point to keep looking around the room.

She walked over to the flowers. Even sniffed the fragrant peonies. Her favorite. She couldn’t resist. Also, she had to make a show of it, else she would lose her nerve.

“Lovely,” she murmured. Then, standing to her full height, and looking him dead in the eyes, she asked, “Did you not bring me chocolates?”

*

Chocolates?! Up untilthat point, he had her eating out of his hand. The visit was going to happen. He knew it. He felt it. He could sense it in his very being. But all that really meant was that he willed it. And he couldn’t really perceive anything beyond his will. If he wanted it desperately enough, then nothing could stand in his way. Not fate. Not dreams. And especially not a mercurial old spinster.

When she had walked into the room, he had felt her restlessness. When he had stepped to the side, exposing the flowers, he felt that restlessness explode. And then her gasp had sealed it. He knew she loved them. They meant something more to her that he didn’t understand. And he had been thanking his dream for the hint. He wouldn’t have picked up the second bouquet that morning if it hadn’t been for the dream.

The flowers had been divined. There was no other explanation. Her response, on the other hand, was infernal.

He had brought flowers. And on all accounts, he had chosen the perfect bouquet. Her eyes had lit up. Her cheeks had drawn in as her lips formed the perfect circle. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought he had picked her favorite flower. Bychance. And if she was a woman that he was keen on, he would have done some digging to confirm that fact, as he was not one to rely on capricious things like dreams to lead his love life. She was not a woman he was pursuing for love, or even lust (that motivation triggered all kinds of effort from him).

And now the cursed chit wanted chocolates, as well? Unheard of. He hadn’t brought flowers, chocolates, and gifts all to any one woman. Flowers, here. Chocolates, there. The odd gift here and there (to a mistress or two), but never all at once to one lady. Who did she think she was?

But he had to tamp down his emotions. He needed to win this bet. Besting Samuel to prove that he was not a better judge of Wesley’s love life was paramount. If there was a bullseye somewhere representing this bet, Samuel’s smirking face was in the middle of it. So, although it was well within his prerogative to stand his ground against Boudicca, he wouldn’t win his bet by ranting at her. Though he might have to plunge forward through gritted teeth.

“Chocolates? Oh?”

And she had the nerve to remain silent.

His tone belied his internal stewings. “I didn’t realize that chocolates were a requirement.”

She merely nodded.

“So,” he pointed to the flowers, counting them in the air, “flowers are required. And…chocolates?” He drew out the sentence, just in case she wanted to interrupt him. She didn’t.

“Yes, of course they are.” She flicked her clear blue eyes up at him; a wisp of hair hung loosely against her jaw. He had the urge to tuck it behind her ear. Perhaps graze her cheek along the way. The urge was patently ridiculous.

“So, no visit today, I take it?”

And in a voice that he didn’t predict, she squeaked out, “Certainly not.” She cleared something, or nothing, from her throat. “It wouldn’t be proper.”

Proper? Hang it all. What this woman thought was proper was nothing more than her own ruminations. There was nothing proper about these requests. Let alone the fact that they were alone on both of the occasions he had visited. He hadn’t heard any gossip involving any scandal with her, but perhaps there was a reason for her being a spinster. It might all be making significantly more sense right now. Thinking of her requirements for a visit…it was laughable. Or it should have been, except it was exasperating.

“All right then,” he took a few strides toward the door, and he could hear her footsteps following close behind him. Likely to close the door on his behind.

Abruptly at the doorway, he stopped. She plowed right into him. Her head must have been down. But that wasn’t his first thought. His first thought was about her hands that had fumbled on his hips to steady herself. Followed closely by a second thought regarding the feel of her breasts pressed into his back. He would have admitted that he liked the feel of her hands on his hips and her breasts against his back, but he didn’t give himself time to evaluate the sensations.

Instead, he turned slowly. A slight blush had crept into her cheeks. Her hair should give up on the coiffure at this point. He leaned back and put one hand almost all the way up the doorframe. She was nearly tucked underneath him. If he was not irked just so, he might have felt…aroused. Towering over her he could picture his body covering her while she was strewn across his bed, subject to his every whim. But that had nothing to do with the bet. He narrowed his eyes at her, and battling his ducal proclivities, he maintained inquisitive rather than imperious eyebrows.

“Just to be sure,whenI come back tomorrow. For a visit. With tea.” He felt compelled to clarify at least a couple of terms. “I shall bring flowers and chocolates.”

She nodded. Clear eyes with long lashes that she could have used to flutter at him, but didn’t. No, she was not communicating coquettishly. Rather, she was direct. Said what she wanted. Didn’t equivocate. Didn’t back down. It was almost respectable, if the vexatious aspect didn’t win out.

“Anything else?” he intoned.

“I’m sure you know which kinds of gifts are appropriate to give to a woman.” She was giving him a tip. Something that he could prepare for rather than react to. He made a note to himself that progress was being made with her, albeit in the most roundabout fashion.

“A gift?”

Her nod caused a few more blonde wisps to come loose. They were baiting him.

“Flowers. Chocolate.Anda small gift.” He waited, watching her eyes, trying to read them, but they were closed off. “And then we shall visit?”

“Of course, Your Grace.” She said the words as if it were ridiculous that she should have to clarify these obscure requirements. For to be sure, they were the obscurest he had heard yet. And he had many experiences from which to draw upon.

---