Page 30 of Raising the Duke’s Unexpected Twins

He frowned, his eyes watching her for a moment, and she continued, a little unnerved by his cunning gaze. “Don’t you remember how you claimed the children liked you best and that you would win the competition of who the children would rush to upon waking. It is time to prove yourself.”

He stepped closer to her and pushed in the pin that had come loose in her distress in helping the children. She clenched her jaw. She did not want him to be kind to her; she wanted him to help or leave her be. Him being kind confused her.

“Well, I –”

At Nicholas’s pause, Cordelia looked down to see that Olivia had moved across the room to sit at his feet, pulling on his trouser leg. He stared at the girl for a little while, blinking at her in almost shock as if surprised to find her there.

“What am I to do?”

Even though she was furious at him, exhausted and irritated at her lack of success as well as the odd turn her life had taken, she wanted to laugh at his innocent question. Yet she was also filled with a rush of jealousy.

I have spent the last two years of their lives playing with these children while he’d hardly held them at all! Oh, the unfairness of the world! He will be smug about this too, I am sure.

She took a breath. At least Olivia had stopped crying and looked at least hopeful.

“Well, you could pick her up,” she told him. “The way she is looking at you so desperately shows that she would like you to do so.”

He hesitated briefly before he reached down, lifting Olivia up and into his arms. His face looked uncertain for a moment, but his body looked comfortable as he held the little girl against his side, bobbing her up and down a little. She quieted and stared at him. In fact, she’d quieted as soon as he’d entered the room, Cordelia realized. And it made her want to throttle him.

Cordelia crossed her arms, grateful Olivia’s tears had stopped but unhappy with her own lack of skill. Nicholas’s eyes were on Olivia, his smile genuine. He tucked a finger into her one grasping hand. Cordelia felt something loosen in her body.

Perhaps there is hope.

“There, there. Even the youngest among us can appreciate my virtues. Your godmother remains determined to be difficult.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and wished to return a barb of her own, but he wasn’t looking at her, and she saw the true smile on his face widen. She stared at it, entranced by just how handsome Nicholas truly was. While she had married a man whom she herself disapproved of, she had also married the most handsome man she knew, and that was going to be a problem.

It will certainly make the nights uncomfortable. And the days, and every waking moment.

It was true – she hadn’t stopped thinking about the kiss he’d given her in the church that morning despite all the chaos. She was nearly weak in the knees thinking about it again. But she was determined not to give Nicholas any satisfaction in thinking that she would beg for him in the end. She would keep to her room and that was that. They could keep their distance from one another.

Mama did say I was her strongest child, and I shall prove my determination.

“Do not listen to a word your godfather says, Olivia. You will need to learn to keep your distance from such rogues when you are older,” she teased, brushing a finger against Olivia’s soft cheek. The young girl at least did not burst into a new fit of tears, for she had only eyes for Nicholas.

When he finally glanced at Cordelia, she saw a sort of satisfaction in his gaze, and he was now smiling at her and not Olivia. It made Cordelia soften. Thankfully, Jenny entered the room.

“Your Graces, I heard the cries.” She curtsied. “I will take the children now. It is time for their lunch, anyway. I am sorry they are being troublesome.”

Cordelia frowned for a moment as she noticed Jenny’s tired face. It seemed she could hardly make it through the day without looking exhausted or the dark circles under her eyes darkening.

“Of course, thank you, Jenny. They are no trouble. We are simply all learning how to get on together,” Cordelia said, smiling but utterly grateful that Jenny had come when she had.

Nicholas’s face shuttered as he placed Olivia in Jenny’s arms, and they both watched as Jenny led the children away and out of the room, her hand brushing briefly to her stomach again as she adjusted Olivia a little uncomfortably in her arms.

Sighing, she turned back to look at Nicholas. Cordelia bit her lip, unsure of how to begin their life. They were now man and wife, duke and duchess, and yet they were not those things. It was in name only, and they had to play a part she was not certain she knew how to play.

He sighed and then turned his face from the door to look at her again. Immediately, his gaze sank to her mouth, where she had her lip clamped between her teeth.

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“And why not?” she asked, blaming the tingle on her skin at his heated gaze on her mouth.

He stepped closer to her, his hands reaching out to brush against her crossed arms. “Keep biting that lovely soft lip, and I will be happy to show you why you shouldn’t.”

Swallowing hard, she moved away from him, goosebumps lifting on her skin as she felt the slide of his hands across her arms.

Looking into the fireplace, she said softly, “The room is wonderful, Nicholas. Thank you.”