Page 55 of The Duke's Spinster

Wesley stood, gaping,at Boudicca in her gear. Obviously she had been competing. In fact, it was so obvious now that he stopped to actually open his mind and reflect on it that he was shocked he hadn’t identified her earlier. The flare and agility displayed was uniquely hers. And she should be uniquely his. But he didn’t say that. He said the first thing that came to his mind when faced with the woman he wanted in his bed but couldn’t have.

“What the hell?” he growled at her.

His first reaction was anger. Anger at her being here. In his manliest of places. Anger at her being here and him not knowing it. Anger that she was here, and yet he still couldn’t think of how to get her back into his life.

And then anger that she was here to witness a defect, his cursed broken mask. He needed to fix it and return to the match.

“What?” she challenged. “You act like you’ve never seen me in my gear before.”

“You know what the bloody hell I’m talking about. What the deuce are you doing here?”

“I came here to beat you. In front of everyone.” She had a wicked gleam, laden with pain, in her eyes.

“This is… this is…” how should he finish that?This is no place for a woman. This is a man’s game. This is my world.

Infuriated, he looked around, not seeing anything as it should be. He lifted his mask into the air. “I need a new one. Mine snapped.”

“You poor man. Your mask broke. At least you still have a chance at winning.” She scoffed. “You didn’t trip over your own feet when it mattered the most not to.”

Trip? On her own feet?

And then he saw it. She didn’t know. And she blamed herself. Foolish, foolish chit. She was a fighter, but she couldn’t see what she was fighting. Or maybe more accurately, who she was fighting. She couldn’t see the truth about her match. Perhaps she couldn’t see the truth about him either. She blamed herself. He saw it now. She blamed herself for his lies. She blamed herself for losing the match. But how could one blame her when all she had done was try? His anger seeped out of him.

“How can you be so blind yet so sharp at the same time?” he asked quietly.

“What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t trip.”

“The referee said I did—”

“He’s being paid off. I’m not sure who’s worse. The ref or Tamely. Tamely’s a miscreant, a bounder, and a cheat. He tripped you. Didn’t you hear the crowd booing?”

She looked stunned. “I thought they were disappointed in my performance.”

“My God, Bodi. How could you think that? You’re amazing. And…”Perfect. Difficult. Irritating as hell, but irresistible.“Wrong. They weren’t booing at you, they were booing at him.”

“If everyone knows it, then why don’t they do something about it?”

“They might. But no one’s going to call him out.”

“Why not?”

Wesley scoffed. “Who knows? Not enough evidence? Pride? Fear? Maybe no one thinks he’s worth it. If every enemy that man has made called him out, it would have been fatal long ago. He’s just one of those weasels that gets away with bullying people. Some people can get away with murder.” He shook his head. Pointing to her garb, he said, “Sorry you lost your round. Obviously it took great effort for you to be here.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Wesley shuffled his mask between his hands, an idea forming in his mind. An idea just outrageous enough to befit a warrior like Boudicca fighting for herlost freedom and bruised body.

“Maybe it was though.” Maybe it was meant to be exactly as it was.

Maybe he was supposed to have bumped into her that fateful night. Maybe the gods had a plan. Maybe…he just needed not to be an arrogant arse.

“Take my place.” He held out his sword.

“What?” She retreated a step, as if he were holding out stinking socks rather than a weapon, and a tool, to make her a champion.

“Go fence Samuel. And win. For me.” He offered a smile. “No. Not for me. For you. You deserve this. You are the better fencer. The world should know. You came here wanting to beat me, but go beat the best of the best. If you won against me, you would have revenge. Revenge is sweet, but the taste doesn’t last. Go win this for yourself.”

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