Page 63 of Winning Her Duke

“Shall we?” He nodded so formally it hurt. Even on their first encounter he hadn’t treated her like a chore.

“Yes, Your Grace,” she answered stiffly. She’d always enjoyed dancing with him but this time she wished her dance card would have been full by the time he’d asked.

He offered his arm and led her to the dance floor where they waited for the music to begin. Instead of a waltz like he’d usually claimed, he chose a quadrille which gave them little time to speak before moving out of range.

“How have you been?” he asked.

“Well. And you?”

“Fine.”

“That’s good.”

She spun away and tried to come up with something to say by the time they came together again. Perhaps in the hour and a half she had been waiting for her dance with him she might have used her time more wisely and devised a few topics of conversation. But she had nothing.

They spent all the time they were paired up in silence and Gia wanted to run from the room, adult or no. This wasn’t just uncomfortable, it was incredibly painful.

It was clear she had truly ruined the easy camaraderie they’d once shared.

Even if she’d thought of something to say, her throat was too clogged with emotion to speak. She was relieved to be pulled away from him for another turn and didn’t attempt to make eye contact when they returned to each other.

Finally, finally, the horrid dance was over and he returned her to Lydia’s side.

“Thank you for the dance.”

She swallowed and managed to say, “Of course.”

As soon as he turned away, she whispered to Lydia, “I’m so sorry. I just need a moment.” Then she hurried from the room so as to not cause a scene when the tears came.

*

Hale had known it was a bad idea to come tonight. Seeing the sadness in Gia’s eyes as he danced with her only confirmed how badly he’d destroyed the friendship they’d shared.

If it weren’t bad enough to have Lady Tomison glare at him, seeing Gia rush from the room with unshed tears in her eyes nearly broke him. Unable to help himself, he followed Gia from the ballroom, down the hall, and into a parlor overly done in floral décor.

Leaving the door wide open so not to cause more harm to her reputation, he went to stand next to her by the window where she attempted to wipe away the tears that had fallen.

His chest seized in pain and he worried he wouldn’t survive it.

Holding out his handkerchief, he opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

“I’m sorry for kissing you. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Please stop apologizing for the kiss. Has it escaped your notice that I returned the kiss? It wasn’t one-sided, Gia. We were both involved.”

She shrugged.

“I wanted to kiss you. But now it isn’t safe for you to be with me, because that kiss forced me to see that I didn’t want to stop with one kiss. I wanted so much more. And that would lead to your ruin. I would rather end our friendship than risk hurting you like that. I care about you too much to endanger your reputation.”

He took a breath and frowned.

“Why are you smiling?” he asked when he noticed the tears were gone and she now looked happy.

She was beautiful, but when she smiled it was like the sun had risen just for him. Seeing that smile with tears still glistening on her lashes was too much.

“You didn’t hate the kiss. I didn’t do it poorly,” she said, as if amazed by this fact.

He stared at her for a few breaths. How could she have thought such a thing? He felt his lips pull up and realized he hadn’t smiled since he’d been with her that day. It had only been a week, but it felt strange. Like he was already out of practice.