Forever Your Duke: 12 Dukes of Christmas #12 by Erica Ridley

Author:Erica Ridley [Ridley, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Cynthia Louise stood atop the snow-covered peak behind Marlowe Castle and flung her arms open wide.

This was the panorama she’d been craving. Snow in every direction. Rolling fields of evergreens to the left, red-roofed cottages of Cressmouth to the right, and directly in front of her... the perfect spot to slide down the mountain on skis.

Blast it all, she should have brought them along, just in case her scouting adventure bore fruit. Although the slightly less steep section just beside it was often used for sledding, that wasn’t the only criteria for a ski hill. She’d needed to ascertain the depth and consistency of the snow, and ensure it stretched over the entire area.

Luckily for her, a snowstorm earlier that month had set things up nicely. The difficult part was going to be convincing Gertie to come with her. Every time the earl took the extended family on holiday to Norway, Gertie had stayed resolutely indoors drinking chocolate rather than strap on what she referred to as “death sticks.”

Seeing Cynthia bed-bound in leg traction twice over the years hadn’t helped matters. No matter how much Cynthia tried to explain that the danger didn’t come from the skis, but rather the riskiness of the tricks attempted by the rider.

Tricks were optional! Gertie could just coast! Cynthia would be right there!

Such arguments hadn’t swayed Gertie in the least.

Indeed, it was a comment by Gertie’s father that wrought the magic. Once he’d married the last chit off, said the earl, he was ridding the manor of all their paraphernalia—from the pianoforte to the skis.

Nothing made a prospect more enticing than the daunting realization one might never have such an opportunity again.

Tomorrow, Cynthia decided. Tomorrow, she would convince Gertie.

Today was for Cynthia’s freedom.

She flung her arms out wide.

It wasn’t just that she treasured these unstructured moments above all else. “Gadding about,” as her uncle called it, allowed her to bump into old friends or wander into new adventures.

And now, it also allowed her to avoid the Duke of Nottingvale.

Alexander.

Her cheeks heated.

Sneaking off to explore the village’s festivities alone allowed her to avoid Alexander.

His kisses were exquisite.

No woman in her right mind would wish to avoid a moment’s pleasure in his embrace.

But the obvious spark between them wasn’t the problem.

The fact that he was going to marry someone else was the problem.

She’d known that before she came. She hadn’t cared back then.

Very well, yes, she had cared deeply, but she’d thought he was going to marry Gertie, who was Cynthia’s favorite person. Since the duke never looked twice at Cynthia anyway, why not have him rescue her cousin?

But Gertie didn’t want the duke.

Cynthia did.

And Alexander wanted someone—anyone—but Cynthia Louise.

The only way to avoid being hurt when he made his final duchess selection, was to avoid him. The less time they spent together, the lower the probability of her exceedingly foolish tendre developing into something deeper.

After all, Cynthia had a long history of falling in things.

What she had to avoid falling into was love.

She turned from the gorgeous, perfect-for-skis, unblemished, snow-covered slope and stepped.

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