Natalie's Christmas Rogue by Jillian Eaton

Author:Jillian Eaton [Eaton, Jillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-30T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Ben couldn’t believe his good fortune. One moment he’d been drowning himself in weak champagne and plotting his escape to the nearest gaming hell (after he found Sophia, who was still missing and undoubtedly figuring out the best way to sneak a baby elephant or some other sort of exotic creature back to their house), the next he was dancing with a beautiful angel who had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Blue eyes framed with lush ebony lashes set above high cheekbones and a full mouth that was far too serious.

Thus far he’d managed to coax one smile out of those pretty pink lips, but he could still feel the tension in her slender arms. See it in the steely set of her delicate jaw. Sense it in the way her gaze met his and then skittered away.

Miss Natalie Rigby was afraid.

No, she was terrified.

He wanted to find out what she was so frightened of, but he knew better than to ask. He also knew better than to hand her off to some foppish dandy who wouldn’t take care with her, which was why he selfishly kept him to herself. Well, that and he simply did not want to let her go.

Ever.

Ben believed in three things above all else: family, a good brandy, and fate.

Thirty-two years ago on a snowy evening just like this, the Marquess of Souderton had stepped out of his carriage and nearly knocked a tiny brunette off her feet. Unbeknownst to either one of them at the time, they would go on to marry and have two children, Benjamin and Sophia.

Their initial meeting had been pure fate. The marquess had been early for a private engagement and had told his driver to circle round the block. Ben’s mother had been running late for a recital and hadn’t been looking where she was going. If either one of them had been a minute earlier, or a minute later, their paths might never have crossed. But because fate had chosen to intervene, they’d bumped into each other in the glittering snow and it had been love at first sight for the marquess and his soon-to-be-wife.

Having grown up listening to the story of how his parents had met, as well as seeing the love they felt for each other with his own eyes, Ben had no doubt they’d been destined to fall for one another. Just as he was falling for Miss Natalie Rigby.

He felt it in his bones. In his heart.

In his very soul.

“Dance with me again,” he said when the last strains of the waltz faded away.

Startled eyes peered up at him beneath a curtain of dark lashes. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly.”

“Why not?” All around them couples were bowing and curtsying to one another before they split apart to indulge in a fresh glass of champagne or find their next partner. Ben kept one hand on the subtle curve of Natalie’s hip, the other on the small of her back in an embrace that was just shy of indecent.

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