Page 52 of Winning Her Duke

She blinked. “Do you truly think so?”

“Of course. You’re too good for me as well, but fortunately we share a madness for horses and you permit me to exacerbate your condition.”

“I do.” She smiled.

He felt whatever unease he’d noticed between them fade away in that moment. He had his friend back. He wasn’t certain how long he’d be able to maintain this relationship, but he’d never felt the need for something—or someone—more in his life.

Chapter Fifteen

Gia and Hale shared sandwiches and went over Godspell’s feeding schedule and training regimen. The tension that had sizzled between her and Hale over the last few days had eased. And Godspell was coming along nicely in his training which gave them something else to focus on.

“I think he’ll be ready for Epsom. I believe he has a chance to win,” she said.

“If he does, it will be solely because of you. Both what you did with him in the past and what you’ve done now.”

She smiled at his praise.

“I love working with them. Seeing them thrive. I imagine it would be similar to watching a child take their first steps.”

A shadow came over Hale’s face. He did his best to cover it with a smile, but she knew him well enough to know she’d said something that gave him pause.

“What did I say?” she asked. Without thinking she reached out and rested her hand on his arm. It was meant to comfort him, but as soon as they touched, she felt something quite different from comfort. Yet, she didn’t withdraw her hand.

He looked down to where her touch lingered, and then up into her eyes, his gaze heated.

She swallowed and stared back at him, unable to look away or move.

Except she had moved. She’d leaned closer to him. And he’d leaned closer to her.

She waited for something to happen. Something wonderful.

Footsteps in the hall outside the door startled them free of whatever snare they’d been caught in.

He pulled back, dislodging her hand and clearing his throat before answering her question.

“’Tis nothing.”

She tilted her head to the side, still rather stunned, and decided whether it would be best to back off or pry.

Needing a distraction, she chose the latter.

“You’ve never mentioned your parents. From things you’ve said, it didn’t sound as if you had an easy childhood.”

“It’s obvious by my title that my father is dead. That is the end of the story.”

“Do you miss him?” she pushed when it was clear he didn’t want to speak of his family. A proper lady wouldn’t have pushed the issue, but it was quite clear to anyone who knew her, she wasn’t a proper lady.

He shook his head. “We don’t need to discuss this.”

“I know. But I want to know.”

“There is nothing to know. My parents married because they were expected to. It was no love match, in fact from what I understand they hated each other immensely. I never saw them together. I interacted with my mother a handful of times and met my father only twice. I was merely the result of them performing their duties successfully and nothing more. They spent all their time with other people. I was an heir left to the wilds of Scotland. Never a son.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not as if I lost something I once had. I never had it to begin with so—”

“I don’t believe for one moment it matters. I miss my mother every day, yet I don’t remember her.”