Too Tempting to Resist by Erica Ridley

Author:Erica Ridley [Ridley, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Erica Ridley

Chapter 7

T

he following morning, Rebecca didn’t bother adding extra curls to her hair. Daniel had bolted from the billiards room with such alacrity the night before, there was no sense pretending an extra ringlet or two would mark the difference between attractive and repulsive.

He liked her. She believed that much; otherwise his immediate departure from his whirlwind London life for an early visit to Crowmere Castle would make no sense. But he didn’t like her enough.

He never had.

Rebecca had always been relegated to a category wholly separate from real, actual ladies worth a man of his stature’s attention. Some women were for dancing with, some for courting publicly, and some for wooing in private.

And then there was Rebecca.

He could withstand her company long enough to chat in the library, share a slice of apple pie, shoot a little billiards. But there was always a limit. A moment when the drawbridge went up and the gates came down. Sometimes it was as trifling as quitting the billiards room in the middle of a conversation.

Other times it was public humiliation.

She twisted her messy curls into a loose bun and shrugged at her reflection. She supposed she should be grateful for the clarity of her situation. Some women sighed over the uncertainty of not knowing where they stood with this swain or that. Rebecca had no such puzzle to solve.

Daniel was not, nor would he ever be, her beau. He had told her so when he was only seventeen. His grandmother had told her so. Repeatedly. She was simply not ton material. Society itself pointed out the chasm at every turn.

The difficulty lay in protecting her heart. Just because an intelligent mind knew a thing was impossible to attain, didn’t stop a foolish heart from weaving a few dreams.

This time, however, she was prepared. She would not be crushed when his title drew him back to London and the society papers filled their columns once more with lurid descriptions of his innumerable anonymous conquests.

This time, his disinterest wouldn’t bother her in the least. It couldn’t. Because this time… she would be betrothed to someone else.

She wished the idea inspired a modicum of joy.

Nothing for it. Her only hope for securing her future was to marry quickly. And her only hope for a happy future was to marry someone who truly wished to wed her. Someone who wanted her to be his wife. Who was overjoyed to be her husband.

Presuming any such man existed.

With a sigh, she rolled back her shoulders and headed toward the front door.

And smacked face-first into the cravat-adorned chest of mercurial viscount Lord Stonebury.

“Why, good morning,” Daniel said cheerfully. “Fancy running into each other so soon, in a castle this large.”

She jerked her head back to scowl up at him. “You seem to have positioned yourself a mere inch outside my bedchamber door.”

“Did I?” He gave her a sunny smile. “You know us city types. Always getting lost whenever we leave London.”

“If you’d like to get lost,” she said with little fire, “you might try the hedge maze at the rear of the property.

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