Embracing the Earl by Alexa Aston

Author:Alexa Aston
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2019-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

CAROLINE’S MIND WANDERED. Her eyes felt grainy from lack of sleep. She’d tossed and turned all night long, thinking of the kiss she and Luke had shared.

Why had he stopped?

He’d told her. She just had trouble accepting his reason.

Because they were . . . friends.

He’d said he’d taken advantage of her and valued their friendship. That he’d never compromise her.

Frustration filled her. She’d been the one who’d taken advantage of him. She knew he was trying to comfort her with an innocent, brief kiss. She was the one who’d felt desire flame within her. And she was the one who turned the kiss from sweet to one full of heat. Even now, her blood sang with his name.

How would she live with the fact that he only wanted to be friends? Was it even possible for men and women to be friends, with no passion between them? Just being in the same room with him caused her to come alive. Her senses seemed sharper. Her body tingled, longing for his touch. She hung on every word he spoke. Yet knowing he didn’t think of her as she did him made her think she should avoid him. She’d thought to do that when they’d first met, thinking him a dangerous rogue who would trifle with her heart. She hadn’t wanted that, especially with her focus on establishing her own bookstore.

Caroline supposed that if Luke truly were to look for a bride this Season, as she’d been led to believe, she would be the last woman he’d ever choose. First, she had a father who’d fallen out of favor with the ton. Gambling and mistresses were tolerated to a certain point but the Earl of Templeton had gone over the edge, losing money hand over fist, so much that not only was he financially ruined, but he had shamed the only family he had left.

The fact that Caroline was now a businesswoman would also be a strike against her. A family as old and distinguished as the St. Clairs would not want someone frowned upon by the women of the ton to become Luke’s wife. She already knew she would be judged even more harshly than a titled gentleman who might dirty his hands in trade.

She didn’t think it would affect the new friendships she’d made though she doubted she would be able to socialize with Rachel, Leah, or Catherine in public. Once word got out about her bookstore and tearoom, Caroline knew social invitations would dry up. She would not want her friends’ reputations maligned by her presence. She hoped she would still see them in their homes. The three women already meant a great deal to her, as if she’d been welcomed to their sisterhood.

Stinch cleared his throat. “Do you agree, Lady Caroline?”

Oh, dear. She hadn’t heard a word her new manager said. Wanting to support him, though, she smiled and said, “I certainly do, Mr. Stinch. You are rarely wrong about anything.”

He smiled, pleased with her praise. “Then I think I will let those waiting know what our decisions are.

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