Page 54 of Under the Earl's Wicked Spell

“Oh. I see.” Charlie chuckled. “I think I can tell you what he was doing with his time off.”

“Oh?”

“I saw him yesterday. He was walking along the seafront with a very pretty young lady. The looks they were giving each other were incredibly sweet. A bit too sickly for my liking, though.”

Rafe snorted.

“Said the man who is wanting to go and have breakfast in a place his intended lover’s mother owns.”

“I never said I was perfect, did I? Come on, let’s get moving. I’m getting hungry, and I don’t want to get there too late when it’s busy.”

Rafe couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s eagerness. This was the first time he had seen Charlie like this. It was strange, but he liked seeing Charlie with a slightly lighter step than normal. He was approaching forty, and Rafe knew his friend had mostly given up on finding love; he was just content to simply go through life as he pleased. Now he had met Amelia, and now Charlie was turning into a lovesick fool. It was both amusing and rather sweet.

Rafe was sure their friends back in America would find their predicaments hilarious.

“There, finally,” Rafe sighed in relief, finally getting his cravat wrapped around properly. “Now I don’t look like I’ve been dragged back to Yorkshire.”

“You look like you haven’t slept well. What’s been going on?”

“I’ll tell you when I’ve had a coffee or two.” Rafe shrugged into his jacket and picked up his cane. “I need it before I tell you what happened last night.”

“Sounds like you had a steamy encounter.”

Rafe ignored that. If things weren’t as fraught between him and Victoria, what happened last night could have been classed as steamy. He had rescued her from doing something stupid, and then he had held her close while they waited for the two lovers—more than likely a couple of the servants—to leave before Victoria went inside. And Rafe had found himself not wanting to let go. That had left him shaken afterwards.

Why did he want to do that with her? True, she was beautiful, and she did have Rafe wondering if his trousers needed letting out whenever she looked at him with those stunning eyes, but her combative nature and her genuine hatred towards him were like someone had tipped a bucket of cold water on him.

Rafe desired her. And he really wished he didn’t.

It wouldn’t matter once they married; things were going to still be bad. Victoria wasn’t going to soften towards him, no matter how much Rafe wanted her to. She was going to make their marriage feel like a battlefield, Rafe knew that much.

If anyone else had made him promise to look after her, Rafe would have said absolutely not; she was more trouble than she was worth. But it had been Sebastien, who had, in turn, promised Richard. They were only looking out for her. Rafe couldn’t disappoint them.

He had a feeling that last night might be the only time he got to have Victoria in his arms and feel her body up against his. And that moment had passed.

What had he gotten himself into?

Leaving the hotel, Rafe and Charlie headed into the street and towards the seafront. Charlie was whistling out of tune, twirling a cane Rafe had never seen before and nodding at everyone they passed. They were receiving quite a few bemused looks. Rafe frowned.

“Where did you get the cane from?”

“I bought it yesterday. Do you like it?”

“What do you need a cane for?”

Charlie gestured at the one Rafe was carrying.

“What do you need your cane for? It’s an accessory.”

“An accessory.”

“Yes. I want Amelia’s mother to think I have something to my name.”

Rafe sighed.

“Maybe she just doesn’t care. Her daughter is a servant, after all. She wouldn’t expect much.”

“Not when I’m around.” Charlie winked and puffed out his chest. “I’m planning on making sure she knows I’m there and that I’m planning on courting her daughter.”

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