Page 54 of Debating with the Duke (Second Sons of London 2)

She glanced up in the sky. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“Not as lovely as you,” he replied.

Everett captured her waist in his hands and her mouth with his. She froze a moment and then gave in to the kiss, sighing. He kissed her deeply, becoming lost in her taste and scent. She was wrong. It wasn’t some attraction between them that would fade over time. His need for her engulfed him, like a living, breathing thing. He poured himself into the kiss, wanting his actions to show her what he had been too timid to speak of last night.

Then he heard a loud gasp, causing the fog his brain had been in to clear.

Everett broke the kiss and looked to see they had an audience of four. As he suspected, Lady Gwenda and Lord Talflynn were present. Accompanying them were her parents, Lord and Lady Fowling. He had witnessed Lord Fowling spreading gossip at White’s and recalled Fowling was one of the first to reach the betting book after Everett had placed his own wager earlier today.

He sensed the tension in Addie and relaxed his grip on her waist but still kept his hands on it. With an apologetic smile, he said, “Please forgive me. I allowed my exuberance to overcome me. Lady Adalyn has just agreed to be my duchess. We are newly betrothed.”

“Oh!” Lady Fowling said as her husband looked on with interest. “Well, I suppose we are the first to offer you felicitations.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Lord Fowling said. “Our very best to you and Lady Adalyn.”

Lady Gwenda looked put out and merely nodded, while Lord Talflynn said, “It seems you actually did find a husband after all, Lady Adalyn. You even looked stunned to have done so.”

Everett didn’t like the viscount’s snide tone.

“If you will give us a moment so we may compose ourselves, we will see you inside the ballroom,” he suggested.

The four understood his dismissal and left.

“Why did you tell them that?” Addie hissed when they were out of earshot. “This is all wrong.”

“I thought it better to say than having you face being ruined.”

“But it will force you to wed me,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes. Then she shook her head, determination settling over her. “I cannot allow you to do this to yourself, Ev.”

“It’s already been done,” he said firmly. “I cannot take it back. Even if I wanted to. Come, we should return to the ballroom.”

He released her waist reluctantly, wishing he could stay and kiss her some more but knowing he had already pushed the boundary of good manners.

“Let us go find your parents.”

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