Page 20 of Bound By the Duke

Aurelia swallowed. She tried to chuckle or smile, but it came out tight. “You’re being dramatic.”

“I’m being honest.”

“And reckless,” she added, trying to lighten the mood. “You always were.” She looked at him again. “Remember when you tried to saddle a goat and ride it down the garden slope?”

“That goat bit me.”

“You deserved it.”

His lips curled into a smile. But it didn’t last before it fell flat again.

“This isn’t a goat, Aurelia,” his voice came out soft this time. “This is your life.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it. As she thought about what to say next, silence settled between them.

But then Louis broke it.

“If you don’t want this—if you want to run—I will help you.”

Aurelia snorted in disbelief, running a hand through her brown hair. “You would help me run?”

“If you asked me to,” Louis replied with a shrug. “If that’s what it takes to keep you from marrying someone who makes you look like you’re slowly fading.”

She let out another laugh, but this one sounded quieter and gentler.

“Oh, Louis,” she murmured, stepping closer and brushing her knuckles against his sleeve. “You may look older now, but you’re still a fool.”

He didn’t smile. And when she looked into his eyes, neither did she.

His concern was evident on his face, as though that was all that bothered him.

“Thank you,” she breathed. “But I can handle this, truly.”

He took a moment to study her. “Even if it breaks you?”

“It won’t,” she whispered.

She was not sure whether to call that a lie or a way of reassuring herself, but either way, she did not want to choose.

Louis sighed. “Fine. But if he turns out to be a monster, I’m stealing you away in the night and we’re joining the circus.”

“Agreed.” Aurelia smiled, most genuinely this time.

“Want to move back there or hang here for a little while? You love reading about nature. I’m sure the flower you prefer is neither lilies nor roses.”

“You know me too well,” she allowed. “I think I will need some books to?—”

Suddenly, the butler ran into the library with the kind of urgency that conveyed he had news to deliver.

The siblings looked up, and the butler cleared his throat as he stepped forward. “His Grace has arrived,” he announced.

Aurelia blinked. There was only one duke who would call on her.

“The D—Duke of Whitmore?” she stuttered.

Even though the butler hadn’t answered, her pulse leapt. And she didn’t know if it was from fear or anticipation, or both. But what she did know was that, somewhat beneath the nerves and pressure and her perfect mask, her heart fluttered.

Damn him.