Julian released my hand. “Oh?”
I bit my lip to hold back my smile. “He’s the worship center minister, and he’s about seventy years old.”
“You do love to tease, don’t you?” Julian said.
“I only tease handsome men.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? Well, I’d be glad to make your stay more comfortable in any way I can.”
I opened my mouth, then felt the chain shift. Zafir had moved closer and pulled on the chain. “Duchess, it’s late.”
“Oh, lighten up,” Julian said. “We haven’t been out very long. Surely you can give her one night to enjoy herself.”
“Anything you consider to be enjoyment is rarely harmless,” Zafir replied coldly.
Julian gave a small, forced laugh. “I think that’s my cue to escort you back before he bursts a vein.”
We walked back toward the main street, the night alive with color and sound again, but the air between the three of us felt charged.
When we reached the gates, Julian stopped. “I had a wonderful time,” he said, taking my hand. “Perhaps we can do it again…without a certain chaperone to shadow us.”
Before I could answer, Zafir stepped forward. “Unlikely. The duchess has duties to attend to tomorrow.”
Julian arched a brow. “Does she, now?”
“She does,” Zafir said coolly. “She is due to begin her duties as my apprentice.”
Julian appraised Zafir. “Then I’ll have to steal her away another night. Until then…” He brushed his lips over my knuckles. “Sweet dreams, my lady.”
I smiled, though my pulse was erratic. “Good night, Julian.”
CHAPTER 19
Zafir held his arms stiffly at his sides as we walked back to his suite of rooms. The grounds were empty and Julian had long since disappeared.
“Why did you pull me away?” I huffed.
“It’s late,” Zafir said grouchily.
“If this plan is going to work and you want me to charm Julian, I have to spend more time with him. I barely had two hours. No one can fall in love in two hours, not unless they are drugged up on love potion or something.”
Zafir mumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t decipher. The chain clinked and rattled as it dragged on the ground behind us. At least whatever magic Zafir had used made it so that the chain didn’t feel heavy.
“You’re even quieter than normal,” I told him. “Are you not a night person?”
“No,” he answered curtly. “I always go to bed early.”
Clearly. Insects chirped their creaking melodies to the night air and the moon hovered overhead, so large it seemed tofill the entire sky.
“Do you really think Julian’s handsome?” he asked suddenly. His hands flexed open and closed.
“Not really,” I answered. “Handsome enough, I suppose. But of course I needed to tell him that to help win him over. I’m sure he was doing the same thing to me. That’s all courtship is: deluding the other with enough lies to convince them that their attraction is love.”
“Do you not believe in love?”
“My ex-husband tried to kill me and I’m currently trying to seduce a man who seems to treat women like trophies to be collected. You figure out if I believe in love or not.”
Zafir’s hand gave an odd twitch but he continued to march toward his rooms like some stiff-backed soldier. We had nearly reached his study.
