Turning to grin at him, she told him, “I think I would know.”
“You should.”
“We can’t all rely on our charm,” she teased back.
“I have no charm.”
She shook her head and the room spun for a moment. Maybe she had drunk more than she recalled. Her grip on the glass tightened as she steadied herself. Dominic was still looking at her as she said, “You have wit and gleaming eyes that read as charm to every lady no matter her age.”
He leaned forward with a certain degree of eagerness. “Do you think so?”
“I also think it’s not as effective as you think.”
Harrumphing back against the couch while she stifled a giggle, Dominic studied her a moment before smirking. “It worked well enough for you to marry me.”
“I was told it was going to happen, remember?”
“But you made the decision, remember?” he echoed.
Her cheeks flamed. Hastily she replied, “Oh I chose this marriage for my own reasons.”
“Not because of me?” He leaned forward, pushing back one of the pillows away from between them. It suddenly seemed to make the distance between them disappear. She didn’t know how he was so close to her now.
“Not at all.” She meant to pull back but couldn’t seem to move her body.
“But I was a benefit of the marriage.”
She licked her lips without thinking and caught his gaze lingering on her mouth. There was that quick wit of his he rarely brought out. But when he did, oh, it was devastating. She could hardly think straight. She had only a little experience flirting, mostly because she had a way of immediately getting flustered.
And now…
“Verity?”
She blinked. “Hm?”
“I lost you.” He tilted his head with his voice growing softer and deeper. It made her think of caramels heated by the palm of her hand. “What are you thinking about?”
Could I tell him I am thinking of him, wondering if he tastes like caramels?
She felt warm and light-headed with the drink and fire. The ambiance was a cocoon wrapping her up tight in safety and relaxation. But she retained enough of her thoughts in the moment to know she needed to change the subject.
So Verity said the safest subject she could think of: “My family.”
There was a slight delay as Dominic inquired, “Are they well?”
“Yes. Yes, I saw most of them tonight. We’re very fortunate, I have been thinking, to have had each other. My mother passed when I was eight. My sisters hardly remember her now, but my brothers do. I find myself often caught up trying to share memories they don’t even have… Strange, isn’t it? Our mother was more mine than theirs.”
Shifting to be a little closer, a little better facing her, Dominic watched her carefully. She could feel his steady gaze. It was a grounding force as she let her tongue speak freely.
And he helped her along. “It is a hard thing to lose a mother.”
“You lost yours, too. And your father.”
“They were not as much the losses as you seem to have faced,” he said gently.
“Our father was a difficult man. He was a very controlling man. Cassian fought so hard to be different from him growing up, and now I fear he will turn into him somedays. And Lucien is simply scared of growing up.” Verity bit her lip. “I shouldn’t say that.”
Her husband was quiet for a minute before he told her, “I won’t say anything. Your secrets are always safe for me.”
