“What is it like to have a brother?”she asked.
He glanced over at her.“You have no siblings?”
“Does it show?”Her expression turned curious.“Is Christopher also a rake?”
“Christopher is not a rake.”He forced himself to ask.“Does it bother you that I was one?”
Am.Surely he’d meantam.
“Not at all,” she said in surprise.“One cannot fight one’s nature.You’re you.You should stay you.”
His gut twisted.She had meant no insult, yet her easy acceptance felt more like a rebuke than a compliment.
Was being a rake truly his destiny?It might have become second nature over time, but that had been due to habit.If it was important for a man to be true to his essence, did he even know who that was?
Or was this another of her tests?
“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a rake?”he asked suspiciously.
She narrowed her eyes.“Do you think there’s something wrong with being a spinster?”
“Do you think being a rake is like being a spinster?”he stammered.
She shrugged.“Both are happily unwed.”
He arched his brows.“Are you certain all spinsters are happy to be unwed?”
“Are you certain all rakes prefer a life of solitude?”she countered.
He’dthoughthe was certain.Now he wasn’t sure about anything.
“If I were to… not be a rake,” he said carefully.“Would you like that better?”
“I would like you the same,” she answered immediately.“I’d be interested in studying the variables that prompted such a change in behavior.But I would still find it in my heart to bake you biscuits.”
She twinkled up at him.
He could not help but return her grin.
Penelope was unlike anyone he’d ever known.She didn’t want him to fit any predetermined role.Not rake, not lover, not husband.She wanted to know him, not change him.Hewas the one who had begun to question his choices.
A crack of thunder sounded overhead.
They both lifted their heads to the sky in time for the first droplets of sleet to splash into their faces.
“It’s coming,” he said.He braced his muscles.“On your mark.”
She gripped his arm tight.“Run!”
They tore off down the street, panting and laughing as the sky opened up and drenched them in cold rain.
By the time they arrived at Penelope’s doorstep, they were both completely drenched, and their cheeks hurt from laughing.
“Coming inside?”she asked.
He shook his head.“I have an appointment across town.”
“I’d tempt you with biscuits, but I’ve been so busy that I forgot to send my maid to market.”She pushed a hunk of wet hair from her eyes.“I suppose I should get out of these damp clothes.”
