He smiled again. “I’ve missed you.”
Blast it all. She wouldnotallow herself to sway!
Despite the frantic beat of her heart, she not prepared to let him near it. She also wasn’t prepared to lose him again either. What an utterly calamitous predicament.
He could not, it seemed, hold on any longer.
“Damn it.” His knees buckled. “Not now.”
He collapsed, crumbling at her feet.
For one suspended heartbeat, she simply stared, uncomprehending, at his slumped form.
“Lawd,” she muttered, voice barely above a whisper. “Good intentions, Giles.” She sighed. “Let us hope they are enough to keep you alive.”
Alyssia stepped over his body and strode from the room.
Chapter Four
“How did itgo?” Annabelle Swanley, Alyssia’s most cherished confidante, accosted her the moment she stepped inside her friend’s home. Alyssia had been living here temporarily ever since her family had retired to their estate in Kent following her mother’s sudden indisposition a month ago.
Annabelle drew her into the nearest drawing room. “Well?”
“It went as uncomfortably as expected,” Alyssia said, allowing herself to be dragged to the settee and to have a glass of sherry pressed into her hand. She took a sip, the sweetness coating the tightness that had formed from her encounter with Giles. Indeed, it had been the entire day thus far.
He was alive. And well. And dangerously...something. Darkly appealing. Daring. Warm and cold at the same time. A touch pitiful.
“Tell me everything.” Her friend pouted. “I still cannot believe you left me behind.”
“I left you behind because I don’t want to drag you into this mess. Plus, you had to hold the fort during my absence here.”
“I, your ever-devoted ally, am perfectly willing to be dragged into any and every mess with you. Though,” she added with solemnity, “Ido take great pride in fort-holding when required. I’m happy to hold any fort, anywhere. I am the fort-holding queen.”
“All right, I hear you ever so clearly.”
They clinked glasses.
“So, tell me, who are you wedding? Do I know him? What was the game? I heard there were all sorts of things men do there.”
Alyssia sighed. Where to begin? She herself hadn’t gathered all her wits about her yet. “There were five candidates originally. A last-minute addition was entered just before the game started. They had to drink vile drinks. I am to marry the man who could withstand the most rounds.”
“Heavens, it sounds so barbaric.”
“Well, you would be right about that.”
“They had to fight for your hand.”
Not true. “They didn’t know they were fighting for me.” Here came the truth. “Except for one man. Also, the man who won.”
Her friend’s eyes turned to saucers. “Wait, how? Doesn’t the widow pride herself on discretion?”
“I insisted on watching from the balcony.”
“You wererecognized? And he then played for your hand? Who is it?”
Alyssia took another sip before admitting, “Giles Bishop.” She still couldn’t quite believe it. In fact, if Annabelle pinched her right now and claimed it was all a dream, Alyssia would believe her.
“Giles Bishop?” Her friend blinked at her. “Giles... Bishop... Giles Bishop. Wait, why does that sound suspiciously like the name of the man you were betrothed to since birth?”
