Page 29 of Sensibly Wed

I shook my head. “No, of course not. I suppose I am weary.”

He paused briefly. “So long as you are always honest with me, and I with you, I believe we can make something of our marriage.”

His words rang with truth within me, but I did not want to share my concerns and put the idea into his mind that perhaps I was better suited to his brother than I was to him. It was late, and I was much better off going to sleep. Or attempting to, anyway.

James remained in the doorway, but he lifted his hand, reaching toward me, and I stepped forward to place mine in it. He raised my bent knuckles to his lips and pressed a kiss on my skin, directly where I had spilled the wax on our first meeting. Lightning shot up my arm, and I squeezed his fingers softly on impact.

“Goodnight, Felicity.”

I retook my hand and rested it on the door. “Goodnight, James.”

Once he stepped back and the door closed with a click, I released a breath that had been lodged in my chest. How could one small kiss—on my hand, no less—have the power to rob me of breath? More than likely it wasn’t the kiss, but the way James tended to make me feel, that held the power.

I returned to my bed to attempt sleep, but staring at the fireplace and the wall that divided my bedroom from James’s, I did not imagine I would be able to accomplish that feat anytime soon.

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