Page 27 of In Pursuit of a Christmas Bride
She was nearly twenty-two, and she could make her own decisions, even if they were not the best decisions.
“Hmm,” he said, stuck deep in concentration. Then after a moment, he glanced up, his eyes wide with surprise at finding her standing in front of him. “I… good evening,” he said, clearing his throat.
“Surprised to see me?”
He fussed with his cravat and ran his hand through his dark hair as if sleekly putting himself back together for her. She liked the undone version of him better. It felt more honest. As if that grumpy, stern front was a piece of armor he wore after years of surviving in this world.
And that she understood.
She wore many more masks than the one he met her with that evening. Somehow, he understood that.
“You took dinner in your room again, and you left me alone with Mrs. Craven. So yes, I didn’t expect you.”
Tilly stepped around him and settled onto the sofa. She crossed her ankles and leaned forward, studying the board. “She was a terror this evening, so I venture to guess she wasn’t the best of dinner companions.”
The earl chortled. The noise took her by surprise, and she giggled, feeling that big, lazy grin return to her face. It almost always was there when she spent time with him. What a gift to be so relaxed around another. She hadn’t experienced it before.
They were strangers.
She was sure of it. They had known one another for a handful of days. And yet it felt more like a string of years.
“Are you winning?”
He studied the board, not glancing up at her, but she saw his grin, nevertheless. “You are teasing me, Miss Brennan.”
“Tilly, please,” she corrected. “Only Tilly.”
“I will agree as long as you stop referring to me as my lord. Henry will do. It’s done for most of my life.”
“Except for when we are in the company of others…”
“Of course. But don’t worry yourself. I came only for a quick matter. I will be leaving almost as soon as the rest of the party arrives.”
Everything within herself deflated. “Oh.”
She didn’t wish for him to leave. They had found each other once more, but something told her that if he left Haddington, she wouldn’t see him again.
“I don’t enjoy parties.”
Tilly reached out and pointed to the knight. “Here.”
He glanced up, and she felt herself tumbling into his dark brown eyes. They were endless and full of a low, simmering heatthat caused her core to warm. She swallowed and licked her lips, desperate to think of anything other than Henry.
Henry.
And what it would feel like for him to touch her. To kiss her.
To bed her.
She jumped to her feet and navigated around the low table. No, she would not think of going to bed with Henry. True, she was already ruined, but she didn’t wish to ruin her family. And she couldn’t trust her heart. The last time she fancied herself in love, she fell with child, and he had abandoned them both.
“Would you like some hot chocolate?” Henry asked, defeating the knight and casting the game piece off to the side of the board. “I asked the kitchen to make some. It should still be hot.”
The fire crackled in the fireplace behind Henry. Tilly clenched her hands, feeling the silk of her dress, trying her best to strike from her mind any thought of the man watching her as if she were prey.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever had hot chocolate.”
Henry picked up the silver pot from the table before him and poured the hot dark liquid in a teacup. A wonderful aroma suddenly filled the room—excellent dark Belgian chocolate.
