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Still, she was fortunately able to make her way back before anyone noticed her absence, even managing to snag a glass of lemonade from the refreshments table and affecting a look of extreme boredom and nonchalance as she walked back to join Phoebe and her grandmother.

Her pride might have suffered a severe blow after the first gentleman that kissed her reacted as if it was the worst thing to ever happen to him, but if he was going to pretend like it had not happened, then she was not about to trumpet her devastation for all the world to see.

“Good evening, ladies.”

She angled her head slightly and saw Ethan, another one of Colin’s closest friends, smiling at them. When his gaze fell on Phoebe, it lingered for no longer than a breath, before he turned to the rest of the group.

“Your Grace, you are late again,” Lady Wellington admonished him.

He grinned boyishly at the Dowager Countess. “Of course, one must build up the anticipation prior to the arrival, My Lady.”

“Still as mischievous as always.” The Dowager Duchess of Ashton shook her head with a wry smile. “I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the day when you finally meet your match.”

“Do not hold your breath, Your Grace,” Evie told her with a conspiratorial smile. “Some gentlemen tend to avoid the subject of matrimony like the plague!”

The ladies burst into restrained laughter while Ethan protested his innocence.

It was so typical that she would have fallen into the same patterns as easily as a duck taking to the water if she had not been so distracted.

As she craned her neck subtly to cast her eyes around the ballroom, she was vaguely aware of Ethan launching into yet another of his outrageous tales. Evie was certain she had heard it once or twice before, but Phoebe hung on his every word.

Besides, Evie was much more interested in the events that unfolded before her eyes from across the room.

She watched with narrowed eyes as a magnificently dressed woman with dark hair and upturned dark eyes made her way over to Daniel, her hips swaying gracefully as she walked towards him. A smile that could only be described as sensualtilted the corners of her lips as she looked up at him. To her surprise, he did not push her away as he usually did.

Like the way he had pushed Evie away earlier in the gardens.

White-hot anger pierced through Evie as she looked on at the scene.

He has just walked out of the gardens after kissing me, and he has already moved on to his next prey. No wonder he is one of the Wolves.

When she saw the woman lean in to whisper something to him, she felt her insides roiling violently. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and it took all of her self-control to stop herself from shuddering violently.

Why am I feeling this way? He is only acting the way a rogue should act. Why should I be surprised?

From the very beginning, she had known who Daniel was. She was more than familiar with his reputation amongst the ladies. Even the gentlemen seemed to give him a wide berth—so much so that it sometimes seemed as if he was a world apart from them.

Why, then, should she be surprised that he acted the way he did in the gardens?

Maybe this is nothing more than my great disappointment in how my first kiss turned out.

That kiss had been everything she had ever dreamed it would be and more—until it was not.

Until everything came crashing down on her when Daniel looked at her as if he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

Perhaps he did. Perhaps she did, too.

“Evie?”

She was yanked out of her thoughts by that soft call. She turned her gaze back to Phoebe, who was looking at her wide-eyed, a trace of panic in her gaze.

Beside her, Ethan looked at her before his gaze flicked over to Daniel. When he looked at her again, there was a gleam of suspicion in his eyes.

Realization dawned on Evie, and her eyes widened in horror.

Have I… Have I said something I should not have?

Like divulging the details of her first kiss?