“You’ve not even given us an opportunity to court to determine if we might be a match.”
“I’ve not courted anyone because of my nieces.” He hated to use them as an excuse, but it was nicer than telling Miss Perkins that he didn’t care for her.
“A burden you should not carry alone,” she pointed out. “I can help you. I can guide them where you cannot.”
“I’ve been around witches my entire life,” he reminded her.
“Yes, of course, but you are not one. Nor are you a female. Your nieces need a female to guide them.”
“They have my mother and my sisters.”
“Is it really fair to tie your mother to this place for the next three years?” Miss Perkins asked.
It was something Damon had not considered. If Evander and Rhea were still alive, they would be the ones living here now and Rhea would be teaching her daughters. He’d assumed that his mother would take on that role now, but he’d never asked.
“She has raised her daughters and should be free of the obligation. If you married me, she’d be able to return to Kent and resume her life.”
Guilt settled into his gut. Had he been presumptuous of his mother? Was this why she was pushing him to marry a witch? Did she want someone else to shoulder the responsibility of her granddaughters?
“I am just as certain your mother doesn’t mind, given the circumstances,” Miss Perkins added. “But is it really fair to her?”
“No,” Damon had to admit. He’d been selfish in refusing to wed a witch and had forced his mother to alter her life.
“That is why we should court and wed,” Miss Perkins said.
He didn’t want to marry her. There were other witches. He just needed to meet them, but how did he tell her so?
“I am not prepared to make such a commitment at this time,” he finally offered.
“Perhaps I should convince you.” Her grey eyes grew dark as her smile became seductive. Miss Perkins then leaned in, put one palm against his cheek and kissed him.
Damon did not return the kiss. In fact, he felt nothing.
Miss Perkins drew back and smiled.
Damon simply stared at her.
“You see, it is meant to be.”
“No, I do not see.”
“Then you are blind to the signs, or did you not notice that it was snowing?”
Damon pulled back and glanced about him. There was snow falling, but only on them. “I don’t understand.”
“It is a sign, at least for the witches in my family, that when they kiss the mate chosen for them, snow will fall in the summer, or rain in the winter.”
“I had not heard this before.”
“It is a secret not shared. My mother only told me on her deathbed so that I would be certain of whom I was to wed, even though she already knew. She said the snow would be proof.”
It was something he’d need to ask his mother about. He trusted her more than anyone when it came to signs and witches. “I still need to think on this matter, Miss Perkins. Please give me time.”
Cordelia hummedand waltzed alone in the gardens of Hollybrook Park. They’d danced and Bentford had kissed her hand not once, but twice. Oh, if only he would have kissed her lips.
She wasn’t simply smitten, she might very well be falling in love.
A million times she told herself it was foolish to be feeling such for someone she barely knew. But her heart wanted her to ignore reason and embrace the emotion.
