Jonathan reached out and pulled Fanny to him, much closer than propriety allowed. She gave an indignant gasp. “What are youdoing?” she hissed, with a glance at Mrs. Thomas, who was either oblivious, or else pretending to be so as usual.
He didn’t relinquish his hold. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing.” But her dark eyes didn’t meet his.
Jonathan’s jaw tensed. “You’re lying.”
Silence.
“Tellme.”
Fanny gave an irritated huff and finally glared at him with a rather fierce expression. “You don’t know when to leave well enough alone, do you?” She shook her head. “I don’t know the kind of ladies you’re used to dealing with in London, but I don’t appreciate playing games.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter!”
“I think it does.”
“Not for someone like you,” she snapped, and then closed her eyes briefly, as if she’d said too much.
He ground his teeth together and narrowed his eyes. “Someone like me?” he snorted. “And just when I thought we had made amends for any unjust prejudices toward one another.”
“Don’t patronize me!” she practically hissed. “But I suppose this only proves my point, that you are incapable of caring for anyone but yourself.”
Jonathan brought them to a halt as Mrs. Thomas continued to play. “That’s the problem,” he growled. “Idocare. Aboutyou. Too damned much in fact.”
***
FANNY FROZE AS LORDCastleford spun away from her. She swallowed over the lump clogging her throat.Could what he said actually be true? Or was it all just a brilliant disguise by an experienced rogue?
She hugged herself and drifted over to the row of windows, confusion warring within her. She stared outside, her vision blurring with unshed tears. She hardly even realized it when the music around them slowly faltered and ceased.
“Is everything alright, Lord Castleford?” The housekeeper asked hesitantly.
“Could you give us a few moments?” Jonathan’s voice was raspy.
Fanny heard the scrape of the bench as Mrs. Thomas took her leave.
The moment she was gone, the air filled with a charged atmosphere. Like a mounting storm, it built and grew until it surrounded Fanny with a ferocity that caused her to catch her breath. She trembled as Jonathan walked up behind her. She didn’t hear a single footstep, but she could feel his warmth emanating between them, crackling with awareness. She anticipated the moment he might touch her or turn her around and press his lips against hers, but instead, he stood there, allowing the moment to stretch on.
Just when she thought she couldn’t stand the silence any longer, he said softly, “You scare me, Fanny.”
Finally, the emotion she was trying to hold back came pouring forth. She spun around to face him, a single tear seeping out of her eye to trail down her cheek. “Iscareyou? Do you have any idea what terrifiesme? That I’ll walk out of here one day and never see you again.” She pressed a fist to her breast. “That I will neverfeelthe rest of my life, the way I feel when I’m with you.”
The tension that pulsed through the room after her pronouncement nearly caused time itself to stop. Jonathan’s green eyes burned with a fiery intensity as he stared at her, while she couldn’t believe she had been so foolish as to say such things. But he’d upset her, pushed her too far, and the words had spilled out.
She needed to put a wedge between them, so that when he returned to London after the ball in three short days, she might be able to smother her emotions and eventually, return to a life without him.
Instead, she’d done the exact opposite.
She might as well have begged him to stay.
Pathetic.
She started to go, but Jonathan grabbed her arm before she’d even taken two steps. “You think you can make a pronouncement like that, and then just... walk away?” he said gruffly. “I don’t think so.”
With that, he pulled her out of the ballroom. He led her across the hall into what appeared to be a modest sitting room. He shut the door and pinned her against the hard oak at her back. Fanny was breathing heavily, but it wasn’t from fear or even angst. She realized that she wanted this moment as much as his glittering eyes said he did. She fought and rallied against it long enough. Regrets and recriminations could come later. But right now, all that mattered was Jonathan.
