“It was,” he agreed. “I think they’re doingRomeo and Julietthis season.”
“Not as much my favorite, but I hope after we marry I can convince Laurence to take me.” She glanced at him. “Perhaps we can go as a threesome since you like the art more than he does. You might find I’m more palatable than you currently believe me to be.”
“I find you vastly palatable, Julia.” He sighed. “It is impossible not to like you.”
She glanced up toward the others at the picnic site and he saw the trouble in her stare. She shook her head. “I’m not being a good hostess, I don’t think. I should rejoin them.”
“You don’t sound very excited about that prospect.”
She pursed her lips as she looked at him. “I would think that would please you. I don’t know why you’ve followed me down here and now you’re being so—sopleasantafter so many interactions where you made clear your disapproval. But I hope it’s genuine. That perhaps you’re trying to see me not as some selfish whore out to destroy your family, but as a person. Now I must go back to the others.”
She gathered up her skirt and climbed back up the bluff to the others. He watched her go, shocked by her directness. Once she had safely gotten to the top of the little hill, he turned back toward the water. The plan had become to flirt with her, to try to turn her away from his cousin with honey rather than vinegar.
But was simply getting to know a woman considered flirting? Was finding out about their shared experiences and values a game? Because it didn’t feel like it when he was standing with her.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. He had been trying so hard not to like her. Working at seeing her as the villain his grandfather required. But the fact was, hedidlike her. He liked her fire and her gentleness. He liked that she was intelligent, he certainly couldn’t help but notice her beauty.
He saw all those things and he also saw how little his cousin valued them. Which made his insistence on marrying her against their grandfather’s resistance even less understandable. And perhaps the time had come to find out exactly why.
Julia watched as Alexander returned to the group. He went back to his cousin’s blanket and sat down with him, sending a glance toward her. Their eyes met and there was a little thrill that moved through her. One that shouldn’t exist.
This man was her enemy. He had made no secret of his desire to end her engagement, or his thoughts that she was untrue in her…well, would one call it affection? Either way, he was interfering, even when he was doing it kindly. Even when he was talking to her about plays or her family or anything else that made her feel like he was safe.
Hewasn’tsafe. The moment by the lake hadn’t been safe. The moment on the terrace hadn’t been safe. These stirring desires and unexpected connections were all a threat to the life she was trying to build for herself.
Caroline took her hand and she started away from her thoughts. “Mrs. Winstead asked you a question, dearest.”
She forced herself to put her attention back on the older woman who was sitting on their blanket with them. “I apologize, Mrs. Winstead, I was distracted by the beauty of the day. What was your question?”
The older woman repeated something about a book they’d been discussing and she forced herself to focus. Making these connections was what would take her where she wanted to be. Not standing at lake’s edges or feeling the weight of every one of Alexander Castleton’s fingers when he took her wrist and stared down at her like he would devour her if she were free.
And what did it say aboutherthat in those moments she hadwantedto be free? Not just because it was becoming increasingly clear that this marriage was a mistake, but becauseof the way Alexander looked at her. Because of the way she felt when he said her name.
She was truly in a bind now. She had no idea how she could escape.
CHAPTER 12
Alexander slept on his tangled thoughts. He didn’t want to be too rash and make things worse for himself or for Julia. But when morning broke the following day, he found himself staring at the ceiling above his bed, running over every interaction he’d seen between Laurence and Julia since the engagement.
All he found there was coldness. All he found there was lack. Not from her. From Laurence.
He threw the covers off himself and paced to the wardrobe. He had long ago released his valet from service to save money and so he dressed himself and then headed from the chamber. He would speak to his cousin about this. He would resolve it all at last, though he didn’t know how.
He bumped into Taylor as he came down the stairs. The butler gave him a small bow. “Was there something you needed, Mr. Castleton?”
“Is the viscount still abed?” he asked.
“I believe his lordship is awake, but not yet out of his chamber,” Taylor said.
“Thank you,” Alexander said, and went back upstairs and down the long hallway to his cousin’s bedroom. He knocked andheard stirring from behind the door. At last, it opened, revealing Laurence in his dressing gown, hair spiked up like he hadn’t yet begun to tame himself for the day.
“Ah, Alexander,” he said, and opened the door a little wider to grant entry. “What are you doing up at this ungodly hour?”
“It’s nine,” Alexander said. “Not entirely ungodly and I wished to speak to you.”
The door to the bedchamber was open and he could see through it. Laurence’s bed was unmade, not surprising, but incredibly disheveled. He stared again at his cousin and his eyes narrowed. “Did I interrupt something?”
There was an odd ache in his chest at the idea that Laurence and Julia had been together last night. Even though they’d already been lovers, even though they would, in theory, soon be married.
