Page 28 of Duke of Iron
May glanced sideways at him. “I have never tasted it.”
“There is a reason for that.”
“But it is always in the books,” she countered, taking a step forward. “The roguish heroes drink ale, and so do the charming scoundrels. Surely a sip of literary curiosity is permitted.”
“You are neither rakish nor a scoundrel.”
“And yet,” she said, grinning as she approached the vendor.
He followed her, mostly to ensure she did not spill something ruinous on her frock, and handed a coin to the vendor before she could reach into her reticule.
“Thank you,” she said, lifting the mug with both hands. “To curiosity.”
She took a sip. Her nose crinkled almost instantly.
“Not what you expected?” he asked.
“It is… bitter.”
He plucked the mug from her hand and took a small drink himself. “Still not as bitter as your gray horse’s finish.”
She nudged him lightly. “He had spirit. That counts for something.”
“So do alley cats,” he chuckled and took her hand.
May shook her head as one would when a child acted out of turn. “You are impossible.”
They made their way back to their box, the crowd parting slightly as Logan offered her his arm again. She took it without hesitation this time, her gloved fingers warm against his sleeve.
The next race began moments after they were seated, but Logan found himself distracted. It was not the horses, nor the crowd, nor the distant flare of bugles. It washer.
May had resumed watching the track with focused attention, her brows drawn slightly, mouth pursed in a way that suggested calculation.
She was not merely pretty. He had thought her pretty from the moment she stumbled into his life with an offer of scandal. But this?—
This was different.
He liked listening to her. Liked the way she brought color to dull topics and warmth to otherwise tedious conversations. He liked that she asked questions and waited for real answers, that she did not fear a room full of strangers, nor his sharp tongue.
He liked being near her.
Which is convenient,he reasoned.A fondness makes marriage smoother. Friendship, even better. Plenty of successful marriages are based on mutual affection.
He could be friends with his wife. That was all this was.
Friends are easy. Friends are safe. Friends do not complicate matters.
Certainly, friends did not provoke inconvenient urges to brush their hair from their cheek, or kiss the corner of their mouth just to see if they tasted like lemon biscuits.
Logan shifted in his seat.No one wants to kiss their friend. That would be absurd.
Nine
“You are cheating.”
May looked up from her cards with a gasp. “I am doing no such thing.”
June narrowed her eyes. “You coughed just now. You always cough when you draw a good hand.”
