“Bram.” Her voice was husky, and he liked the sound of his name on her lips.
“Why are you sad?”
She shrugged. His hand cupped her cheek now.
“You are a beautiful woman, Ivy Birdwhistle.” The words surprised him as much as her.
She made a choking sound but did not pull away. His eyes traced her features and settled on the soft curve of her lips. He wanted to kiss her, but that would make him no better than Haldane. He eased back.
“I am not beautiful, which you very well know.”
“Why do I know that?”
“He said I was, and it was a lie then just as it is now. A lie to win a bet with you.”
So she knew he’d been the man to enter that room.
He grabbed her arms gently as she backed away.
“I was not party to that bet, Ivy. I came into that room because he sent me a note stating my brother wanted to speak with me.”
She stilled, her eyes going to his.
“I didn’t even know the woman in that room was you until he mentioned it.”
Her eyes closed. “Haldane mentioned it in front of the guests here?”
“No, just me,” he lied. David would never speak of it. “He knows better than to speak of it to anyone.”
“At least that is something. I will not have my cousin embarrassed due to my behavior.”
“What happened was not your fault, Ivy. Haldane lured you in there. We went to school together, and our competitiveness started then. I stopped; he never did. You paid the price for his need to prove to me constantly that he was the better man. But I am telling you the truth when I state I was not involved in that bet.”
“When my fear of exposure moved into anger, I wanted to punch him,” she said, making him smile.
“I did that for you. Have you not noticed his nose is now crooked?”
“I don’t get close to him. I hate him.” Her teeth snapped together.
“You are not alone there. But the point is, Ivy, no one knows about that bet or what took place in that room.”
“I was never sure why no one mentioned it. I always thought it was whispered about, but due to my uncle no one spoke of it directly to me.”
“I told him I would make him pay if he mentioned the incident.”
“I wish I’d broken his nose,” she muttered.
“Bloodthirsty woman.”
She sighed. He felt the rise and fall of her shoulders under his hands.
“For years I have waited for someone to say something about that incident. Something that would have brought shame down on my family.”
“They never will.”
“Thank you.”
“Ivy?”
