“Because you’re pompous.”
“I can be pompous,” he acknowledged.
“And arrogant.”
“Yes.”
“And entitled.”
“I’m not sure I like where–”
“And you’d never, in a million years, ever consider marrying someone like me. So had I known who you were, I wouldn’t have wasted my first kiss on someone like you.” There. Daisy’s shoulders sagged. She’d said it. Out loud. Put it right there in the open for them both to hear. Because it was true. As soon as Violet had told her who he was, she’d known it was true.
A duke like Everett would never fall in love with a girl like her, and there was no point in pretending that he ever would. No point in wishing for another kiss. No point in lifting her hopes only to have them dashed.
A baker, a brewer, a candlestick maker.
Those were the types of men she might one day marry…if she married at all.
But aduke?
No, not that.
Not him.
To let herself believe otherwise, even for a second, would be like…it would be like a wild zebra winning the Epsom Derby. That was to say, it wouldn’t ever happen. And if the zebra spent its life dreaming of crossing that finish line in first place, it would never find contentment in the joy that came from just being a zebra.
“I am glad to have met you, Your Grace,” she said earnestly. “Enjoy the rest of the house party.”
“Miss White–Daisy–wait.” He grabbed her wrist when she stood up, his fingers easily encircling the tiny bones.
“What?” she asked, her temple creasing.
His eyes darkened to slate. “Take a walk outside with me.”
Lips claiming hers.
The caress of his tongue.
A hand curling around her nape.
“No, I don’t think–”
“Daisy.”
“What?” she said weakly.
“Please.”
Chapter Six
Bonnets and Parasols
What the hell are you doing, Everett asked himself as he escorted Daisy out of the solarium via a side door and onto a stone terrace within view–but out of hearing distance–of those eating their breakfast inside.
She’d given him the perfect excuse to not have to talk to or see her ever again. No harm done. No feelings hurt. A passionate kiss like the one they’d shared and it was the woman that didn’t want to pursue things?
It was a bloody dream come true.
