Page 46 of A Marquess to Save Her
“What are you doing here, anyway?” She asked.
“I...I... accidentally came here,” Callum lied unconvincingly.
Louise scoffed. “I suppose you do not expect me to believe such an obvious lie,” she said.
As Louise stood there, angry at him, Callum could not help but find her adorable. She was petite and certainly shorter than he was, yet, in her anger, she puffed and advanced toward him as though she was expecting him to cower in fear of what she could do to him.
Callum could not hold back the laughter that escaped from his mouth. Louise stopped some steps away from him, looking angrier than he had ever seen her before.
“I suppose you find it worthy of laughter that you chased off the only man interested in me,” Louise said angrily.
“Far from it. I, in fact, feel sorry that that happened,” Callum lied, trying his best to look remorseful.
“Why do I not believe you, Callum?” Louise said. “Tell me, have you been following me?” She suddenly asked.
Callum ran his fingers through his hair as he quickly tried to come up with an explanation. He did not expect Louise to catch up with him so quickly and was unsure if he should tell her the truth.
“By your silence, I take it that you were following me,” Louise said.
“I will not have you accuse me of something that I did not do, Lady Louise,” Callum said, resorting to lying.
“Callum, I know that you are lying. You were following me and you did not accidentally storm into the library moments after I came in with Lord Pembroke,” Louise said.
Callum sighed. “Fine! You are right, Louise. I was following you,” he said. If Callum had thought that his speaking the truth would make Louise less annoyed, he was in for a shock as she only became even more enraged.
“I just do not understand it, Callum,” Louise said as she began to pace around the library, “if you were really helping me get engaged, then why are you determined to ruin things for me?”
“Ruin things for you?” Callum was not expecting such an accusation.
“You were glaring at Pembroke and me throughout dinner, and you made sure to interrupt us. And now, you followed us into the library. What do you want from me, Callum?” She said as she finally came to a stop in front of him.
Even though the situation was a tense one, Callum could not stop his eyes from roaming over her body. He wondered if she would become even angrier if he placed a hand on her waist and pulled her close to him or if her anger would fizzle out.
Louise's lips were set in a tight line yet when he looked at them, he was reminded of their tryst in the dark room on the night they met and the feelings their kiss elicited in his body.
“You would rather not answer me, I see,” Callum heard Louise say and he was jolted out of his reverie.
He made sure to keep his eyes on her eyes so he would not slip back into daydreaming about her body. “I apologize, Louise,” Callum replied, “I... I was not glaring at you and Pembroke as much as I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what, an eligible suitor who seems to be genuinely interested in me,” Louise replied.
“I suppose you know what Pembroke was trying to do then,” Callum said.
“What? Trying to show me his old textbooks from Oxford that Felington borrowed?” Louise said.
“What?” Callum exclaimed. He was not sure what he found more surprising, Pembroke's lies or Louise's willingness to take the Earl’s words for it.
“Indeed. He told me that I was the most inquisitive person he had ever met in theton,” Louise said, smiling.
Callum's heart clenched at the thought.
“And you believe him?” Callum asked.
“Of course, I did. He has given me no reason to doubt him,' she insisted.
“Tell me, Louise,” Callum said, “why would a young gentleman want to be in an empty library with a lady that he is not married to or related to?”
“What are you insinuating, Callum!” Louise asked. She looked like he had just said something entirely sacrilegious.
