Page 34 of Captured By the Cold Duke
“Well, I’m not so easily duped by chivalry,” she said loftily. “I know it is more about a gentleman’s pride than his actual sense of decency.”
Thomas actually laughed out loud. “You’ll find any excuse to punish me, won’t you?” he asked lightly.
“I’m inviting you to our board game night, am I not?” she shot back.
“But that’s only because it’s Samantha’s idea.”
A teasing spark lit her eyes, and her lips parted as if to say something—but then her mouth slammed shut and she glanced away. Watching her, Thomas was suddenly struck by a thought: it wasn’t Samantha who had invited him.
It was Cherie. She actually wants me there. And not for Chastity’s sake.
It was such a pleasant thought that he found himself grinning, despite the fact she still looked irritated.
“Very well, Cherie,” he said, smiling at her knowingly. “I will come to your board game night. Just be prepared to lose.”
It didn’t take Thomas long to realize that when it came to the “Wallflowers’’ board games, there was no way he was going to win.
“Whatare the rules again?” He asked for the seventh time as Lady Samantha moved her piece past his on the board. She had just answered a riddle incorrectly, and this had forced her to move back four paces. But the square she’d landed on had sent her halfway across the board, and now she was ahead of him.
How he had ended up so far along the board in the first place was a mystery to him anyway.
“Don’t worry about the rules,” Samantha said happily, as she rolled several dice in her hands. “Just do whatever we tell you to do.”
“That seems dubious,” Thomas said, frowning at her. Next to him, Lady Chastity giggled, and he threw her a small smile. She blushed and looked away.
Cherie was sitting on his other side, and he nudged her slightly. When she glanced at him, he raised his cards to cover his mouth and whispered,“She’s flirting with me.”
Cherie didn’t laugh, although she did look amused. Instead, her eyes fell demurely, and her cheeks went pink again.
Thomas frowned.What is going on with her? He’d enjoyed their mutual teasing earlier and had been hoping they would continue to banter this morning. But instead, she was acting like a shy schoolgirl. Except that Cherie had never been shy, even when she’d been a schoolgirl!
“Are you calling me a cheat?” Samantha asked, peering at him closely.
“I would never do something so foolish,” he said, winking at her. She laughed and shook her head.
“So, this is the Casserly we heard so much about,” she said, letting the die fall from her hands. They spun across the table and landed face-up on seven and two.
“Samantha!” Cherie said, her cheeks blazing. “The duke no longer goes by Casserly!”
“I’m not offended,” Thomas said, holding up a hand. “I want to know what Lady Samantha means. What are you referring to,This is the Casserly we heard so much about?”
Samantha shrugged as she moved her piece forward another five spaces. “Cherie has told us about you,” she said. “Back before you were the duke. When you were quite a laugh—or at least that’s what she tells us.”
“My husband also speaks about this side of you,” the Duchess of Vaston said, smiling slightly. “He said you were his most amusing friend.”
“I like that my wife and best friend say such nice things about me,” Thomas said, and he nudged Cherie again. “I shall have to thank you later,” he added in an undertone. “For making me look so good.”
She blushed and rolled her eyes. “Just play the game,” she hissed back.
“I’m trying,” he muttered, as Minerva went to take her turn, and the other ladies began talking more among themselves. “But it’s a bit difficult when I’m trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with you.”
“Wrong with me?” Cherie looked taken aback. “Nothing is wrong with me. What are you talking about?”
“You’re so quiet,” he said. “I’m not used to it.”
“I’m not quiet!” she said indignantly, and he heard some of the usual sparks in her tone.
“You are,” he said. “Usually, you would be the life of the party. But now you are hardly speaking at all, and you keep blushing as if everything I’m saying were mortifying. You would tell me, wouldn’t you, if I were mortifying you?”
