Chapter 6

Chapter Six

F rederick spotted her the instant he stepped outside. She was sitting with her back to the house, hidden by a large oak tree that grew toward the back of the garden, clocked in shadow. Had he not been looking for her, he might have missed her.

He was about to go to her, only to pause and take a closer look, for he realized that not only was this the first time he had seen his bride-to-be in over a week, but it was also the first time he had seen her in daylight. And, strangely, when she was fully clothed.

No need to confirm her beauty, for he had noticed that the first time he had seen her. Dark brown hair that fell down her shoulders, porcelain white skin, and features that were round and somehow defined at the same time. But her body was what had stood out to him, and still did. Curves… plenty of them. Even sitting down as she was, even with her dress bunched up, he could see them clear as day.

Memories of his hands tracing her curves flashed in his mind, how they had felt as she shuddered beneath his touch. Thoughts of tearing that dress off her so he might see those hips and those br?—

Frederick gave his head a shake and straightened up. He was here to set boundaries, not cross them. Fantasies such as that… well, they were nothing but dangerous.

Keeping his expression neutral, he hurried across the garden, careful to remain silent until he reached the tree. Then he stood over her, choosing to lean against the trunk so that he was half-facing her, half-turned away. He crossed his arms and adopted on a casual stance, grinning to himself because, although he stood right over her, she still did not notice him.

“I am not disturbing you, am I?” he asked.

“Oh!” she yelped, half-jumping to her feet, half-stumbling forward as she lost her balance in an effort to turn around. She ended up on her hands and knees in the dirt, looking up at where he stood, a look of utter shock on her face. “You!”

“Me,” he said simply, still leaning against the tree. “Tell me, how is it down there? It looks cozy.”

“What are you doing here!” She pushed herself back and scrambled to her feet.

“Your parents invited me,” he replied. “Did you not hear?”

“Not here!” she snapped as she dusted the dirt off her dress. “But here . In the garden! And sneaking up on me!”

“I could ask you the same question,” he responded simply. “It is not polite to keep your betrothed waiting, as you have done today.”

“And you think that I care?”

“I would think that at the very least you might extend me the barest of courtesies and not have me chasing you through the garden.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you want?”

Frederick had to work to subdue his temper. He was not surprised by her agitation at him, but the rudeness coming from her was something he could not abide. He felt an argument brewing, reminding himself that he was not here for such things, but rather to reset this marriage before it threatened to turn into a catastrophe.

“To talk,” he said with a forced smile.

“I think we have spoken enough, don’t you?”

“On the contrary,” he responded coolly, despite the heat radiating from her. “I have been thinking about the other night, and there was a lot left unsaid. I was hoping we might be able to remedy that.”

“And what if I do not want to?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Then this promises to be a rather dull marriage, wouldn’t you say?”

“And whose fault is that?”

She was even more upset with him than he had thought. The way she looked at him, the antipathy that she directed at him, he had no doubt that she hated him. Worse than that, he could not blame her.

The other night, he had been caught by surprise by her sudden appearance. And then caught further by surprise by the way she had acted… and his reaction to it. He had wanted to get her out of his room, needing some distance so that he could cool down and hopefully remind himself what this marriage was supposed to be. But in his haste, he had hurt her, and then he left her for a week so that hurt would fester.

She was being rude to him, and while Frederick wanted nothing more than to assert his position because he did not appreciate being spoken to like this, he realized that for now, that might not be the best option.

“Let us start again,” he sighed.

“No, I do not think?—”

“I am trying to apologize,” he snapped, to which she balked. “But you are making it next to impossible.”

“Apologize?” She narrowed her eyes, as if looking for the trick. “What for?”

“For the other night, the way I acted and…” He sighed and attempted to look regretful. “And for the things I said. I spoke in haste and rather rudely, and I realize now that some of the things I said might have been misunderstood.”

“Misunderstood?” she scoffed. “It was rather hard to misunderstand anything you said. From what I remember, you were perfectly clear in explaining that our marriage is to be solely one of convenience. Your convenience,” she hissed. “You do not want anything to do with me. I might as well be a houseplant for how you spoke.”

“I did not mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it?” She raised a warning eyebrow at him, the look on her face suggesting that no matter what he said, she would not listen.

“You are right about one thing,” he began carefully, struggling to look into her eyes and not at her body. “I do wish for this to be a marriage of convenience—but that is not a bad thing,” he hurried to add before she could cut him off. “My marriage to your cousin, Miss Gouldsmith, was supposed to be the same. A perfectly natural arrangement.”

“You made it sound a little more than that.”

“I am not marrying for love,” he continued, still trying to meet her rueful gaze. “Nor should you expect me to. And nor do I expect the same from you. Considering how this arrangement came to be, I cannot imagine that was even a consideration.”

She opened her mouth to argue but bit her tongue as the obviousness of what he said sank in. “Still,” she snapped, “it is one thing not to marry for love and another to tell your wife-to-be that you don’t want to so much as touch her…”

“Is that what you want?” Frederick could not help but smirk. “For me to touch you?”

Her eyes went wide, and her cheeks flushed. “N-no!”

“No?” He chuckled.

“I mean—what I meant was, marriage is more than just a man and a woman living together. There are…” Again, her cheeks flushed such that her entire face turned red, and she had no choice but to look away. “There are expectations.”

“Touching, you mean?” His eyes flicked over her suggestively, lingering on her hips just long enough that he caught himself, realized what he was doing, and looked away.

She forced herself to look at him, leveling him with a glare. “Is marriage not a means to produce children? An heir! And unless you know another way to do it, then yes, touching is part of the expectations.”

Frederick studied her for a moment as a sudden realization dawned on him. Clearly, she was angry at him for what he had said. And clearly, she did not like the idea of being treated as a near stranger in his house. But was it possible she wanted more from this marriage than even that?

“Your expectations, perhaps,” he said slowly. “Not mine.”

“And why not? Why are you so insistent on avoiding me?”

“I am not here to justify myself,” he scoffed. “And if I had known how desperate you were for my touch, I might not have bothered.”

“I did not say that!”

Oh, she was fiery. A storm in a teacup, the way she simmered and stewed. And while that might have turned him off, for some reason, it sparked a sense of excitement in him. He had met many well-bred ladies before, most of whom were proper and boring and not worth his time because he did not wish to pursue someone who wearied him. What was the point?

“Can we please do away with the pageantry?” Frederick sighed, opting for a slightly different approach.

“Excuse me?!”

“This effort to make me feel sorry for you, as if I am the only one at fault.”

“What does that?—”

“I have apologized once already, and that should be enough.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “And yet, not once have you seen it fit to extend to me the same courtesy.”

“Apologize? Why would I apologize to you?”

He scoffed. “For obvious reasons, I should think. Or do I need to repeat them? Somehow, I doubt you will like hearing them spoken back to you nearly as much as you enjoyed performing them.”

Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “I was only trying to… to change your mind and force your hand.”

“Can I be frank with you, Lady Hannah?”

“Have you been anything but, so far?”

“As I stated, I am not marrying for love. But that does not mean this marriage has to be antagonistic. The way that I imagine it, there is no reason that the two of us cannot be friends. That, I think, is more than most could hope for.”

Her brow furrowed. “Friends?”

“Why not?”

She rolled her eyes. “Exactly what any bride wishes to hear. And on our wedding night? I suppose we will shake hands?”

“Again…” He flashed her an amused look. “You come back to the same point. This desire you have for me to touch you.”

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “I said nothing of the sort.”

“That is not how I heard it.”

Why was he baiting her like this? Why was he baiting himself? A desire to look at her body, curbed again… only it was becoming harder to suppress it.

“Does it matter what I want, now that I know what you wish for? Friends, yes?”

“It is not personal,” he explained slowly and carefully. “I simply… I cannot promise that. Further to that point, although it might pain you to hear, I must confirm again that for as long as we are married, I will not touch you. That is one thing I cannot offer in this marriage.”

“Good,” she said determinedly. “That is exactly what I want.”

“That is not how it looked like the other night.”

Again! He spoke words he did not mean, as if he wished to plant the idea in her head.

“That was not what it—” She bit her tongue again, glaring at him, only to turn it into a smirk. “You speak rather boldly, Your Grace, but you seem to forget that I was in that room, as were you.”

“And?”

She shrugged. “For all this speech of self-control and a lack of desire to kiss me…” Her eyes flashed. “That was not how it looked to me.”

Frederick looked right at her, his eyes narrowed. “I was playing a role.”

“You were very good at it.”

“I was never going to kiss you.”

“I am sure you were not.”

“If it was not for what I knew you were doing, I would have dismissed you immediately. But seeing as you were there, I thought I needed to make a point.”

“And it was very well made…”

Was she toying with him again? Was she testing him as she had the other night? Or was this real? It was hard to tell, where Lady Hannah was concerned, for the way she looked at him right now was half-seductive, half-mischievous. Oh, he wanted to believe that she was simply teasing him… but it felt more than that.

Again, Frederick was reminded of that night when he backed her up against the door, when he leaned in to kiss her, when her lips parted to accept his kiss. She might have claimed that she did not want him and it was all an act, but he knew otherwise.

He only wished he could say that he had not felt the same pull.

“And I told you,” he spoke through gritted teeth, mostly to force his mind to focus on the point at hand. “Anything I did that night was pure performance. Starting from now, you know exactly what to expect from me.”

She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “And what can I expect?”

“Nothing,” he said, ignoring how hot he was feeling and the way those big brown eyes bored into his own.

“Good,” she quipped with a casual shrug as she leaned in closer. “Because I think that you and I might make excellent friends. I would hate to ruin it with a kiss. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“So, we are in agreement?”

“We are, and you have nothing to worry about from me. It is your resolve that I question. But feel free to prove me wrong.”

“I look forward to it,” he murmured.

“As do I,” she responded with a low, breathy voice, still leaning in just a little as if trying to tempt him.

His eyes went wide when he noticed for the first time a locust the size of a tennis ball sitting on her right shoulder. The sight of it was enough to snap him back into the moment, forcing a grin on his lips that he could not hide.

“What?” She pulled back slightly, her cheeks turning red. “What is it—I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just testing you!”

“Do not be alarmed, Lady Hannah…” He flashed her a smirk. “But there is a rather large locust on your shoulder?—”

“What?!” Her eyes widened like saucers, and she shoved him away, her arms flapping and flailing as she tried to dislodge the bug. “Where! Where! Get it off! Get it off!!!!!”

“On your shoulder,” he tried to explain as she hopped about as if she had stepped on a fire. “No, the right shoulder. No, not there!”

She had become frantic in an effort to shoo away the locust which had latched onto her shoulder as if its life depended on it. Jumping about, her arms swinging, screaming and crying out, if anyone was listening, they might think she was being attacked. “Is it off?! Where is it?!”

“It is—no, not—on your right—oh, here!”

Frederick had no choice but to step toward her and wrap his arms around her. He lifted her off the ground, ignoring the way she flailed, holding her with one arm as he plucked the locust off her shoulder and launched it into the sky.

And then he continued to hold her, keeping his arms wrapped as her breathing slowly returned to normal. Still facing him, her face bright red, her hair a mess, she looked at him in a way that he could read only too well—as if he were a savior, for he could see how grateful she was.

And again, he felt that pull. Her body pressed to his. Her breathing matching his own. Their faces inches apart. Her big brown eyes impossible to look away from.

He held her for a moment longer, met her eyes, and was lured in by her plump lips and the feeling of her warm breath on his face. His body stiffened, his pulse quickened, his mind went blank, and all the self-control that he so heavily touted seemed to vanish.

“I knew it,” she said in a throaty whisper that made his legs shake.

“Knew what?” he asked, his voice just as low, forgetting completely where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.

“That you would not be able to resist.”

“I have not done anything yet.”

“The key word there…” She made sure she was looking him right in the eyes. “ Yet. ” And then, seeming to think that she had him, she closed her eyes and leaned in as if to kiss him…

Frederick released her immediately, for he came back to his senses at that moment.

He stepped back, straightened, and did what he could to look composed. “And as I said, this marriage is one of convenience and nothing more.”

Her expression shifted between embarrassment, shock and anger… settling in the end on anger as she narrowed her eyes at him. “You are not nearly as strong as you think you are, you know?”

He scoffed. “I do not require strength to resist kissing you.”

“How about touching?” she shot back. “From what I recall, your hands were all over me just now. How very bad of you.”

His face dropped. “That hardly counts.”

She shrugged, a satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. “It is a slippery slope, Your Grace, and you are standing right on its precipice.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“A statement of fact.”

They glared at one another. Frederick, feeling annoyed because he sensed that she was mocking him. And Lady Hannah, looking a little too pleased with herself, as if she had won something here today. Which she most certainly had not! He had come here to confirm with her the boundaries of this marriage, and he had done that. Hadn’t he?

The words were spoken well enough, but Frederick got the sense they were ignored. Also, the way he could not stop looking at her, from her curves to her pouty lips, he almost hoped they had been.

“There you are!” Lord Ramsbury’s voice called from across the garden. “Your Grace! Hannah! We were looking everywhere for you!”

“Father!” Hannah called back, waving them over.

“What are you doing out here?” Lord Ramsbury hurried toward them. “And why were you not in your room?”

“Oh, we were just talking…” Hannah smirked at him. “About the wedding. Your Grace…” She turned to the Duke, her smile still triumphant. “Shall we go back inside? To discuss the upcoming wedding, I mean.”

Frederick looked at her flatly. “Sounds like a wonderful idea…”

That did not go as well as he had planned. It went so poorly, in fact, that he realized that to even be alone with Lady Hannah was dangerous.

But they were to marry! How could he possibly avoid being alone with her? For now, he knew, the best thing he could do was avoid her until he came up with a solution. Their wedding was in two weeks—more than enough time to do so.

Although as he watched her walk back to the house, her wide hips swaying suggestively, his mouth salivating at the sight, he wondered truly if this was not the worst idea he had ever had. Or, conversely, the best.