“Go on.” Trey leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. His friend wasn’t going to get out of this one very easily without lying.
Nic huffed and rose to his feet. “The reason I kissed her was because I knew you were coming up the hall.”
Trey blinked and shook his head, not believing what he’d heard. “You did it because you wanted to be caught?”
“Yes.”
Chuckling, he gulped down the remaining brandy in the glass before standing. “Tell me, why would you do something like that?”
“To see your reaction.”
“Hawthorne, you are not making any sense.”
“Forgive me, my dear friend.” Nic walked closer until he stood right in front of Trey. “I wanted to see how you would react when watching another man kiss the woman you love.”
They stood eye to eye in silence. Trey glared at Nic. This was not a game of words. His friend was serious.
Trey pushed past Nic and stormed toward the liquor tray. “You don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t love her. I love nobody.”
“No, you love Judith. I can tell.”
Anger filled Trey as he poured a good amount of brandy in his glass. “Hawthorne, I’m beginning to think you have gone insane. You, out of all people, know how I feel about that.” He turned and faced him. “Why would you think such a thing?”
A grin stretched across Nic’s mouth as he came closer. “Because I have watched the two of you together. I see the passion on your face, I hear the emotion in your voice, and I seethe tender way you touch her. You care deeply for a woman you claim not to love, my dear friend.”
Trey tightened his grip around his snifter as he took another long swallow, his glare never leaving Nic.
“It’s all right to admit you care about her,” Nic continued. “Lightning will not spear from the sky and strike you dead if you admit your true feelings.” He shrugged. “It’s easy to see why you fell in love. I have been riding with her for a while now. I know the woman she is, and I can only hope to find my true love as you have.”
Trey’s heartbeat pounded against his ribs, while the strange emotion that consumed him since meeting Judith filled his chest. “I cannot love her, Nic,” he said softly. “I have no desire to suffer as Tristan suffered.”
“You won’t.”
“I most certainly will,” he shouted as he threw his drink in the empty hearth, watching it shatter. “I have seen firsthand what love does to a man. And I have seen it tear apart my mother for loving a man who could not return her feelings, and every night she cried herself to sleep and the pain nearly killed her.”
Trey leaned against the wall and dragged his fingers through his hair. When would the alcohol start to work? He needed the magic to dull the pain in his head and in his heart immediately. Emotion grew in his chest, making it harder and harder to breathe.
“You forget one thing, my good man.”
Trey glanced over his shoulder at Nic. “And what is that?”
“Judith is not your mother. Nor is she Lady Diana.”
“I know this. What difference does it make?”
“Your father was never in love with your mother. Lady Diana was never in love with Tristan.” Nic grinned. “Judith is very much in love with you, and you feel the same for her, but you are too stubborn to admit it.”
Growling, Trey pushed the heels of his hands against his eyes, willing the confusion inside him to disappear. “I don’t want to love her,” he muttered.
“Do you not wish to be happy? Judith would make you very happy. Trust her. Trust in her love. She will not disappoint you.”
Trey sighed and lowered his hands. His head throbbed, and he wanted it to go away. He wanted Nic to leave, too. His friend’s words were very confusing and he didn’t want to think about this right now.
“How do you know I will not get hurt?”
Nic shrugged. “Name one man you know who has not been hurt a time or two in his life. It’s something we all must experience, my dear friend. Because to experience this helps us to love stronger and deeper.”
Chuckling, Trey rolled his eyes. “When did you become so educated on the subject? You are a rakehell just as me.”
