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But he wasn’t finished, and she found herself listening avidly. Hanging on his every word.

“I know that you cannot hide your emotions because your blushes give you away.” He grinned and stroked one of her heated cheeks, which she was sure was proving him exactly right. “And I know that you chew on your bottom lip, which drives me to the brink of insanity by the way, when you’re nervous or thinking something over.”

His voice was soft and low. Barely above a whisper. Yet Holly heard every word clear and strong.

“And I know that kissing you just once changed me. Enough to know that once was never going to be enough.”

Holly couldn’t have said which one of them moved first. It was the most natural thing in the world for their lips to meet.

This kiss felt different, though. Still ablaze with a passion that seemed to ignite from the second they touched. But it was tender, too. More than just her body responded as he reached up and clasped her face between his hands, taking full control as he deepened the kiss with a groan, eliciting an answering one from her.

Her heart responded, too.

And if she’d had any doubt that she loved him, it would have been erased in that moment.

Because it didn’t just feel like hers was the only heart involved in this thing between them. It felt very much like his was there right alongside it.

* * *

Evan couldn’t take his eyes from Holly as she stood in the middle of the grand ballroom across from him, her cheeks a fiery red.

Perhaps it was the attention she was garnering since the ball was in her honour and therefore, it was up to her to open the dancing.

He was more than happy to accompany her in the dance and, he’d informed her with mock severity, he’d have been driven mad with envy if she’d asked anyone else.

It was hard to stand there and act as though there hadn’t been a massive shift between them this evening.

He felt it and he figured she must have, too.

That kiss in her mother’s sitting room – it had been special. Special in a way that Evan had never experienced.

His heart had twisted with almost painful tenderness as she’d gazed at him with those big, dark eyes. And when their lips had touched, therightnessof the moment had taken his breath away.

He’d felt, right in his very soul, that this was how it should always be. His lips should only ever be on hers.

Never had a kiss affected him so. Never had he felt as though his heart belonged entirely to another person.

Hell, he’d been ready to marry Celia and he hadn’t felt a fraction of the passion, the tenderness, and yes, the love he felt in just a week of Holly’s company.

He could have gone his whole life never even knowing he could feel this way.

And standing here, with her brown eyes on his, and her red-gold curls shining in the candlelight, he thanked God that he’d found this. With her.

Or perhaps, he thought as the music started and he bowed to the lady, it was Angela he should be thanking.

After all, it had been that crazy old woman who’d practically dragged them together.

As the steps brought them together, he brought his mind back to the dance and more importantly, the woman he was dancing with.

Tomorrow was Christmas Day. He hadn’t expected to enjoy it overly much, since he was encroaching on the viscount’s hospitality for the holiday.

But now – now, he found himself rather looking forward to it.

For the first time in years, since Celia had left and made him as uninterested in the Yuletide season as he was in the fairer sex, he felt excited for tomorrow.

And, his mind spun furiously with hastily thought out plans. If he could help to make the day a little better for Holly, a little less sad, then he was going to do his best to make that happen.

He just needed help.