Falling for a Duke by Rebecca Connolly & Nichole Van & Janelle Daniels

Author:Rebecca Connolly & Nichole Van & Janelle Daniels
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2017-09-18T21:00:00+00:00

Eliza was quite sure she was going to wake from this nightmare.

Any moment now, she would blink and sit up in her bed, heart pounding. And she would feel relief that this was simply a dream.

Duke Liam was not here. This could not be happening.

But, no, it was her hand currently tucked into Duke Liam’s elbow, and it was her legs that walked beside him onto the dance floor.

She swallowed something painful and acrid in the back of her throat.

Had he come to disgrace her further? Was that his game?

Her Liam would never be this cruel.

But this man, the Duke of Chawton, was unknown to her. No matter that she saw flashes of her Liam in his blue eyes.

He led her to his place in line and then took his place opposite her as Lady Foxly called the dance steps.

The worst of it?

This would be their first dance together. His father had never let his heir mingle with the lower classes in something so gauche as a local assembly room ball. All those years as best friends and they had never courted, never behaved as a couple might.

Finally, the buzz and hum of the ballroom intruded, pushing through her thoughts.

Every head, every eye . . . was trained on them.

Neighbors whispered with neighbors, heads leaning in, talking behind fans. It appeared Mrs. Finchley had finally succumbed to her nervous excitement, swooning in a faint. Mrs. Young and several other ladies waved smelling salts under Mrs. Finchley’s nose while simultaneously darting glances at Eliza and the duke.

Oh, dear.

How was Eliza ever going to explain why he had singled her out to her overly curious neighbors?

She wanted to weep her frustration. Or, better yet, pound her fists on one rather ducal chest—

For his part, Liam seemed inured to the hubbub he caused. Probably used to it, curse him. He drilled her with his blue eyes.

It was too much.

Eliza swept her gaze past him, finally noting the man standing to his left.

Nicholas.

Her cousin smiled at her—a typical Nicholas smile that promised mischief and torment and a devil-may-care attitude.

Oh!

It had been annoying at age nine. At age twenty-four, it was downright diabolical.

Her brows came down. She shot him a look that spoke of retribution. Once she got him alone . . . and found a fire poker to beat him with . . . and had arranged an alibi—

Her eyes stung. She wasn’t strong enough for this. She could not bravado her way through it.

The music began. Eliza curtsied to Liam. He bowed in return. Elegant. Refined.

They met in the middle, joining hands and walking in a circle, performing their steps.

She could feel his eyes on her. And still she said nothing. How could she speak past the lump in her throat?

Besides, so many little things intruded.

For example, had Liam always been this large? In her memory, he was tall but not so . . . big. She could see the flex and retreat of the muscles in his upper arm as they danced. And he smelled divine.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.