“Right, of the famous five Duvall sisters of Alpha-Prime,” he responded, shaking her hand slowly, as if he didn’t intend to let go anytime soon. His steady gaze seeped inside her soul with flattering intensity. “I like the new hair color, by the way. Goes great with your green eyes. Red’s my favorite color.”
Ooh, you’re so nice.
She smoothed a palm down her straight, shoulder-length bob. The shorter length continued to surprise her. “Thank you. But I’m not one of the Duvall sisters, famous or otherwise. Well, not anymore.” She couldn’t seem to take her gaze from his face.
“Oh? How does that work? Not being a Duvall sister anymore, I mean.”
Francine paused, trying to get her brain to work, then explained. “When I didn’t end up marrying the man my parents selected for an arranged marriage, I was summarily kicked out of the family.”
“Huh. Was he awful?”
“Oh no, Axel is completely wonderful. He’s also just as madly in love with my sister, Lucy, as she is with him. I switched places from bride to bridesmaid so Lucy could marry him instead.”
“Axel Grey’s a good guy.”
“Yes, he is. Anyway, before the ink was dry on their marriage license, my parents disowned me when I refused to let them get an annulment and they named Lucinda as their new second daughter.”
“New second daughter?” His genuinely quizzical expression soothed something in her. She liked it very much.
“Yeah, like Lucy used to be third born, but with me out of the family she became the second daughter.”
“Wow. That’s harsh.”
She shrugged. “It is, but I don’t have any regrets.”
“I see. You’re a troublemaker, then. I like that.”
“Why? Are you a troublemaker, too?”
He nodded. “I am. I was kicked out of my family a long time ago for not conforming and I have equally zero regrets.”
Francine grinned. He was fun. “Well, I do have one small regret.”
“Only one?” His answering smile was nearly irresistible. She leaned forward, but caught herself and attempted to shake off her lust.
“Okay. One big regret.” She used air quotes around the word big.
“What’s your big regret?” he asked, mimicking her air quotes.
“I’m going to miss my little sister’s wedding. Lucy and I are the closest in our family, but Prudence is a sweet soul. She’s second youngest, and nothing like our eldest sister, Ardelia the Bossy, and our youngest sister, Drucilla the Spoiled Brat, both of whom can be rather horrid. I would love to attend Pru’s wedding.”
“Another arranged marriage?”
“Of course. That’s the only kind of marriage my parents believe in. Lucy and Axel have invited me to go with them to Ichor-Delta, where Pru’s groom-to-be is from, but the last family wedding I went to was a total disaster. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to try to sneak into this one, as much as I want to.”
“What happened at the last wedding?” His dark eyes remained fixed on hers like he couldn’t turn away, couldn’t resist her. She liked it.
“Well, I crashed it with Lucy and Axel’s help. I sat with the servants at the reception afterward, but the ceremony was smaller than the one held for my elder sister and my sharp-eyed mother found me out.”
“They were unhappy you were there?” He sounded surprised her presence had generated so much ferocity. She’d expected they’d be angry. Lucy hoped they wouldn’t make a public scene, perhaps only speak harshly to her. They’d both miscalculated on that score.
“Oh no. They were furious.”
His regard grew even more intense.Is it getting hot out here?“What did they do?”
Francine closed her eyes briefly before answering. “They got two Royal Guardsmen at the festivities to rush me quickly out of the reception—even though I didn’t put up a fight—and drop me onto a hastily arranged flight back to Earth without my bags. I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to anyone.”
“Wow. Thatisharsh.”
