Page 99 of The Bad Wedding Date

“Whenever I feel the need for real peace and quiet. I thought you might need some of that after the chaos of the last week.”

Her smile grew. “Always so thoughtful.”

Not always, Charlotte. I’m not always the good guy.

“Here,” I beckoned her back to me, and she came slowly, a look of gratitude on her face as I took her hand in mine and turned us both to the shelves behind me. “I thought you might like to pick something to sit and read for a while.”

“Now?”

“Unless you’ve someplace else you’d rather be.”

She shook her head and let her attention drift over the books.

“I do have one stipulation to our time here, though,” I said. Wearing a small smile, I leaned in and brushed my thumb over her heated cheeks. “You have to read a romance novel.”

“Why romance?”

“Because I’ve seen and heard some depressing shit in my time, Charlotte, but listening to you talk about how you saw love as nothing more than a business transaction has to be the absolute worst statement of all. Nobody should think that, especially not a woman like you with a hell of a lot of love to give this world. So, indulge me for a moment. Pick up the type of book you would have done when you were still that teenage girl who believed that fiction could transfer into real life.”

Her smile only grew, and she released a long, slow exhale that had her shaking her head. “Who knew someone as handsome as you could be so pretty on the inside, too?”

33

Charlotte

Fraser rested on the floor in front of me, propped up against the sofa I sat on behind him. I had a historical romance book in my hands, and I was already five chapters in, but not even the love-soaked pages of a budding duchess and her duke could keep my eyes off Fraser for too long. With his head tipped down, his attention remained on the hardback book in his hands. The Biology of Belief intrigued him, apparently, leaving me to admire the most ridiculous things about him.

The delicate blond hairs on his neck that led to the perfectly sculpted short beard around his jaw.

The way the thick veins in his neck stood out, leading to traps and shoulders edible enough to make a woman want to sink their teeth into them.

Every time he turned a page with a carefree hand, I found myself wanting to abandon the duke in my hands to lavish my own king with a very particular brand of loving.

Fraser truly looked at peace here, hiding away in the back of this ancient bookstore. That strong jaw was relaxed for once. He didn’t look like he was ready to go to war. I wanted to climb onto his lap and spend minutes, hours, days, just running my hands over him and staring into his eyes.

He turned the page again in front of me, his head turning to the left slightly, allowing me a better view of his profile. The sight of it made me loosen a breath.

“If you keep staring, I’m going to assume you want a closer look,” he said, not taking his eyes off the page in front of him. “Your gaze radiates heat, Charlotte. I can feel it on me.”

“If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the bookstore.”

The corner of Fraser’s mouth twitched, and he took a moment before he slowly closed the book, dropped it by his side, and turned to give me his full attention. My eyes roamed over every visible part of him, hungry to digest it all.

Resting my book on the arm of the sofa, I brought my feet up under me and lay on my side, with my cheek resting on my hand. Fraser’s mouth was only a few inches from mine, and I savoured the proximity, letting his aftershave wash over me.

“I can’t focus on getting to know a stupid duke when the only person I really want to get to know is Fraser Scott.”

He dropped his hands to the sofa I laid on, resting his chin on his knuckles.

“You’ve been very inquisitive today,” he said.

“I can’t help it. I’m intrigued.”

“Then, ask me a question.”

“Just one?”

He nodded, unable to hide his amused smirk. “That’s all I’m giving you before you have to get back to your duke.”

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