“Well, then, now we know. And knowing he is alive is enough. At my age, raised hopes are not only ridiculous…they can be downright dangerous.”
Julia scoffed. “I’m not saying you should dash off in the middle of the night. But Katherine’s already invited you to visit the Castle. Accept”—a tingling ran down Julia’s arms—“and see what happens.”
Miss Watson patted her cheek. “Ever the optimist, aren’t you, my dear?”
Of late, she’d felt quite the opposite. But if, for her, love refused to manifest, she could damn well be certain everyone else she knew had the best opportunity.
She smiled encouragingly at Miss Watson, willing her to see the possibilities. Then, a gust of wind turned her attention to the hall beyond. Farring and Rayne crossed over the threshold. Rayne snorted at something Farring murmured as they both divested their coats.
Rayne had been gone for almost two years—two years that hadn’t been easy on him, if she were to guess by his weathered skin and bearded cheek. However, his gait—the alluring, unintentional swagger all his own—had enhanced. And those bright, singularly captivating blue eyes hadn’t altered one bit. They still weakened her knees and heightened her senses, leaving her watchful. Expectant.
She scowled.
His blue eyes hadn’t anyparticularallure. As for his swagger…given hisadvancedage of nearly thirty, he’d soon be stooping.
He hurtled some quip back at Farring, spreading his fingers and tugging the edge of his glove. Considering their size, he had uncommonly graceful hands.
Uncommonly affecting hands.
A memory ghosted through her mind—she and Rayne in the stairwell just around the corner. Those same hands deliberately traveling down the contour of her back while, with his lips, he’d kindled fire like she’d never known.
Excitement sparked a shiver in the present.
Her eyes fixed to his hands, and every cell in her body vibrated with the command—Make. Something. Happen.
She snapped the book she held closed.
Stop.
Rayne was what he’d always been…hemlock—a pretty poison, but a poison nonetheless. And shenevermade the same mistake twice.
“Perhaps you’re right, Miss Watson,” she said. “Some thingsarebetter left in the past.”
Which didn’t put an end to her rapid heartbeat. Nor resolve her conviction that loveshouldand would win, if given a fighting chance.
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Chapter Two
Resisting his attraction to Julia was like resisting the wind—bone-wearying and, ultimately, fruitless. Every time Julia laughed, every time she absentmindedly touched her cheek, Rayne practically vibrated with sharpened awareness.
And then, when she slipped out alone, an inner directive arose—go to her…now!
To deliver his apology, of course, of course,of course.
An apology that would force her specter to cease haunting his mind.
Or so he consoled himself as he hovered in the corridor directly outside Southford’s wedding-transformed billiards room.
Julia’s solitary figure graced the far corner of a billiards-table-turned-gift-depository. She ran her fingers across the intricate carvings on a silver soup tureen. A decorative ribbon dangled from the wax tray beneath the chandelier, occasionally wafting against her skin.
What he wouldn’t give to gently brush his fingers against the curve of her neck in the same way. Doubtless, she’d swat him away, too.
Not that he would blame her. Not in the least. Who knew better than he his capacity to harm? He’d thought he’d polished his emptiness smooth, but his anger had ruptured the surface, and he’d shown who he was to those he’d cared for most.
He neither deserved—nor would he stoop to request—a second chance.
She looked up from the table, pinning him with her too-perceptive gaze. This time, she did not look away.
