The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean

Author:Sarah MacLean
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-06-27T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Women’s Wiles Await! Mind Yourselves, Men!

“Do you love my sister?”

Caleb Calhoun turned from where he checked the final winch connecting his carriage to the four horses that, in minutes, would ferry him to Covent Garden. Sesily Talbot leaned against the coach, arms crossed over her chest—a chest beautifully showcased by a stunning gold dress that gleamed like fire in the sunset.

The dress was likely thought too low and too tight, but Sesily Talbot did not seem the kind of woman who cared what was thought. And it didn’t matter, honestly, as it wasn’t the fire in the fabric of her dress that made the girl dangerous, so much as it was the fire in her eyes.

No, dangerous didn’t seem the appropriate word for Sesily. Dangerous seemed too gentle. She was positively ruinous. Which was a problem, because Caleb had always been partial to ruination. And being ruined by his dearest friend’s sister was not an option.

Ignoring the thread of pleasure that went through him at the sight of her, he returned his attention to the horse, making a fuss over a perfectly fastened harness. “Lady Sesily, may I help you?”

“Are you not answering me because you think I will judge you for it? I won’t. People have always loved Sera. She’s eminently lovable. The most beautiful of the Dangerous Daughters, to be sure.” Caleb wasn’t sure at all, as a matter of fact. “I only ask because if you do love her, you’ve a problem.”

She was right about that. Haven clearly desired Sera with an intensity Caleb had never seen. When they were near each other, the duke was unable to direct his attention to any but his wife. And Sera—well, she’d never stopped loving her duke, no matter how awful their past and how impossible their future.

And Caleb knew about awful pasts and impossible futures.

He owned one and was speaking to another.

“Of course I love her,” he said. “But not in the way you mean. I’ve no interest in seducing her.”

“Do you love another, then?”

No one had ever taught Sesily Talbot tact, apparently. “I don’t see how that is your business.”

“Ah, so that is a ‘yes.’”

“Love is a fool’s errand. One only need look at Sera and her duke to see it.”

She seemed not to hear him. “Is it unrequited?”

Irritation flared, and Caleb turned to meet her gaze, clear and direct and—Christ, she had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen, blue with a magnificent ring of black around them. Beautiful enough to make it essential that he say the next out loud. To remind himself of where his loyalties lay. “Your sister is the best friend I’ve ever had.” He paused. “Which means I’ve no interest in seducing you, either.”

He meant for the words to sting, just enough to put her off him, but they didn’t seem to. They seemed to glide right past her. Indeed, she smiled. “I don’t believe I asked to be seduced, Mr. Calhoun.”

He was a bull, and she was a stunning red flag.

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