Page 102 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“You get jealous? There’s something new.”
His words were snarky, but there was a softness to his tone. One I could see in his gentle smile when I forced my eyes open in a sleepy glare.
“Of course I do. I love Hazel, but that doesn’t mean I’m not jealous of her.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – THOMAS
Colour me surprised.
Those were not words I ever expected to hear out of the great, confident Sylvie Harding’s mouth.
“That’s not what I was expecting you to say,” I admitted quietly.
She sighed, and her eyes fluttered shut once more.
Not going to fall asleep, my arse.
I needed to move her. Tell her to get up and I’d show her back to her room for the night.
There was only one problem: I was a selfish bastard.
A selfish, greedy bastard who wanted to sit here and listen to her sleepy truths. I wanted to hear more of the things she kept locked away in her heart and didn’t share with anyone else.
I knew there was no way she’d ever admit to someone that she was jealous of Hazel, but here she was, speaking honestly and openly with me.
“Why wouldn’t I be jealous of her?” she murmured. “She’s younger than me, and she really does have everything. A solid career, her family around her, and she’s getting married to someone who loves her more than anything.”
Ah.
I understood.
This beautiful, confident, successful woman lying on my sofa was lonely.
And for her, it wasn’t a case of ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride.’
She wasn’t even the bridesmaid.
She was the wedding planner.
She organised endless magical days, watching people live out their happy endings over and over again without having one of her own in sight.
No matter how much she loved her job, it was like she said: she was only human. Even the coldest of people would crack eventually.
“You know, Sylvie, we’re not that different,” I said, matching the volume of my voice to hers, to something barely above a whisper. “Sure, it’s tough for her right now, but my younger sister is married, successful, and has a kid with one on the way. I think it’s normal to feel a bit left behind. More than that, it’s okay to feel that way.”
God only knew I’d battled with the same feelings more than once.
I sighed and gazed at her for a moment. She didn’t respond, and her right eye twitched slightly. Her breathing was slow but heavy, and I had no way to control the way my lips moved of their own accord into a smile.
I knew she would fall asleep there the moment she laid down.
It was past midnight, and we’d had a long day, especially her.
Quietly, I got up and grabbed two blankets we’d used earlier. The fire was still blazing as it would for a few more hours until the embers finally died down, so I wasn’t worried about us getting cold by sleeping in here.
I could try to carry her up to bed, but honestly, I was a little afraid she’d hit me if I tried something like that.
I wouldn’t put it past her to karate-chop me in the head.
