Page 36 of It's In The Duke's Kiss
But as they made their way to the sitting room, she heard the distinct sound of her mother’s laughter. When Emma entered the room, she stared in shock at her mother sitting by Lucian with a smile on her face.
Emma’s jaw fell open, and Mother frowned. “Close your mouth, dear. It’s unseemly.” Emma snapped her jaw shut, and her mother nodded approvingly. “His Grace was just telling me that he came to take you on a carriage ride, but I persuaded him to stay here and let you show him your paintings. He confessed that he too loves to paint.”
Emma glanced at Lucian with surprise, but his face showed nothing but polite interest. He tilted his head toward the easel she’d forgotten by the window with one of her unfinished paintings. “I inquired as to who was painting the lovely picture.”
Emma’s mother beamed at him, and Emma had to bite her cheek to keep from snorting. Mother smiled. “We can set your paints out for you to create something new today, if you wish?”
Emma was so shocked she barely managed to nod her head. Her mother rarely acknowledged the fact that Emma enjoyed painting, let alone told anyone of it. This was clearly because of Lucian’s confession and interest in her painting.
Not long later, Emma stood outside in the sunshine beside Lucian. She set out her paints and then started to set some out for him.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh.
“Aren’t you going to paint?”
He shook his head. “I’ll watch you.”
“Don’t tell me that dukes don’treallypaint,” she teased.
He gave her a very serious expression, ruined by the twitch of his lips. “Of course we don’t.”
“Take off your jacket and roll up your sleeves,” she ordered.
“Emma, how very scandalous of you,” he said in feigned astonishment.
She burst out laughing as she waved her paintbrush at him. “If you’re going to fib and say you love to paint, you need to knowhowto paint.”
“But—”
“I refuse to take no for an answer.”
He looked at the brush, the paints, and the paper with a distinctly uncomfortable look. He had probably never done anything so leisurely in his life. “Please,” she cajoled. “Grant me this wish.”
Lucian laughed. “I’ve always said that no good deed goes unpunished.”
She gave him a mock scowl and watched as he reluctantly did as she bid, but when she held the brush out to him, he shook his head. “If I’m going to grant you your heart’s desire, then you must promise that one day you’ll grant me mine.”
Her breath caught in her chest as heat pooled in her belly. “I promise,” she whispered.
He reached out slowly and took the brush, his fingers lingering over hers for a long, delicious moment. Emma caught a glimpse of her mother strolling by and scowling at her, so she pulled her hand away and motioned to the brushes.
“Hold your brush like so,” she quickly instructed.
She spent the next hour showing Lucian how to make strokes to achieve one’s desired effect.
“Do you think you have it?” she asked.
He nodded and started painting. “Dukes master everything right away.”
Emma frowned as she painted. He’d said it lightheartedly, yet one glance showed her that he had a faraway look in his eyes. “Is that what was expected of you growing up?”
He nodded. “No room to be anything but the best and master everything quickly.”
Her heart squeezed that he felt that way, for she could see he still did. “It must be difficult to live with such pressure.”
He stilled, stepped back, and observed his canvas, which she couldn’t see. “I suppose. It’s all I’ve ever known.” He glanced her way and studied her, as if he was trying to figure out something. “Perhaps it’s part of the reason I seek peace, but maybe what I really need is to allow…” His words trailed off to silence.
Emma couldn’t resist filling the void. “Perhaps you need to allow yourself to be human.”
