He took a step closer to her, his jaw tightening as he struggled to maintain control. “Harriet, I—” he began, but she cut him off, her voice rising in intensity.
“Is it in my best interest to thrust me into a marriage of convenience with a man I barely know?” she demanded.
Simon’s heart pounded in his chest,I can’t stand it when you look like this,he thought, his frustration boiling over.
“Say that again,” he said, his voice low and intense as he stepped even closer to her. His eyes bore into hers, searching for something — anything — that could bridge the growing chasm between them.
Harriet faltered, her breath hitching at the sudden change in his demeanor. But she refused to back down. “I said, I don’t want to be forced into a life I didn’t choose,” she repeated.
“What…” he measured his words carefully, knowing that the smallest thing could set off a fuse, “what would your decision have been?”
“I would have wanted you to stay!” Harriet’s voice was raised, but she had never looked so soft to him before.
So vulnerable.
Without thinking, he reached out and pulled her to him, his lips crashing down on hers in a fierce, desperate kiss. Harriet gasped in surprise, but after a moment, she responded, her hands clutching at his jacket as she kissed him back with equal fervor.
For a few precious moments, the world fell away. All that existed was the two of them, the heat of their embrace, and the intensity of the emotions that had been simmering between them for so long.
Hefeltit. He felt something. That kiss… it was like he had waited for this moment his entire life. Simon’s mind raced,overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings for her — feelings he had been trying to deny for far too long.
But then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the moment was shattered by the sound of a baby crying from upstairs.
Simon pulled away quickly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Harriet looked just as shaken, her lips parted, her eyes wide as she tried to process what had just happened.
“I…” Simon began, but Harriet shook her head, stepping back and placing a hand on his chest to keep him at a distance.
“I need to go and see Cathy,” she said, her voice still trembling with emotion.
With that, she took off, leaving him to stare at her retreating figure.
He stood there for a long moment, his thoughts racing as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He had kissed her, and not just out of passion, but out of a desperate need to keep her close, to stop her from pushing him away.
And that… he had liked it.
He leaned against the doorframe, burying his head in his hands.
Things had just gotten more complicated than he had ever intended them to.
CHAPTER 21
Simon could not sleep that night. Of course not. Not after what had just happened.
Luckily, he knew one other person in the world who would be awake at this hour. So, he took off on his horse, solo and found himself outside Anthony’s estate.
“Ah, Simon!” Anthony greeted him in the drawing room with a drink in his hands. “A bit late for you, but no worries, no worries. You are always welcome.”
That was the exact reaction that Simon had anticipated from his friend.
“Have you been at home all day? I did not see you at the ball.”
Anthony shrugged, and handed over his friend a drink as well. “I did not feel like showing up. Besides, I might have made plans with a certain lady friend…”
Simon made a disgusted face. “For tonight?”
Anthony flashed him a grin, “It is nothing to worry about. She is already upstairs, asleep in my chambers.”
Simon took a sip from his drink, ignoring what Anthony had just told him. He was not here to listen to his best friend brag about his conquests — but rather, he was here because he desperately needed someone to listen.
