Page 24 of Forever Her Bachelor

“Be quiet, you oaf,” St. Clara warned, pointing at the man who was certainly not his friend.

Being caught in such a precarious situation would usually lead to matrimony. It would solve all of St. Clara’s problems, but he also knew that Pippa would never forgive him if he forced her to marry him. Besides, Julia and even her oaf of a husband were their friends and would never tell a soul.

Pippa turned to look at him, her eyebrow quirking in question.

Damn, he’d always loved when she did that.

“You’ve been discussing me with Lord Heartford?” Her face scrunched up in distaste, making her look more adorable to him.

It finally happened; he was going mad.

St. Clara shook his head, trying to halt the direction of the conversation. “Discussingis a rather large term. He has been meddling, and I have been choosing to ignore him.”

“Miss Price, I really wish you would call meHenry. You are my wife’s closest friend after all.” Heartford interrupted their conversation.

St. Clara turned to him. “I’m your wife’s closest friend?—”

“You are not.” The marquess reminded him.

“Livie is my closest friend, then Pippa, then St. Clara,” Julia chirped from beside her husband.

Livie was the Duchess of Karrington and Julia’s cousin. Of course, she was her closest friend.

“You wound me, Bird, but you are not mine either.” He shrugged one shoulder, giving her a lazy smile. “Bollingbrook and Pippa have always been my closest friends since I was a boy.”

“What have you been discussing with Lord Heartford about me exactly, Your Grace?” Pippa’s cold, detached voice interrupted the back and forth as she rounded on him with her hands crossed over her amble bosom.

Bloody hell, he wasYour Gracenow. This was not ending the way St. Clara hoped it would at all. What he wanted was for her to marry him.

“I have not been discussing you with anyone. I’ve made myself perfectly clear. Do not marry Summerset.”

He heard Julia’s loud gasp of surprise accompanied by her husband’s annoying chuckle. What he did not hear was a reply from Pippa.

St. Clara waited, holding his breath to the point of pain. He wanted her to say something, anything, to remove the deafening, uncomfortable silence that descended upon them. He found that he no longer cared about propriety or anything else. Time was deteriorating for both of them. The fact that they were standing in front of their friends did nothing to sway the growing urgency in St. Clara’s veins. His body felt empty without her closeness. The familiar ache of emptiness clawing its way back into his senses was uncomfortable as his arm twitched involuntarily to pull her into him again. He wanted her to be his wife with absolute certainty, and suddenly he didn’t give a damn who knew it.

“We’re not discussing this now.” Pippa avoided meeting St. Clara’s eyes, which was disappointing because he wanted to see her fire.

“I’m sure you two can discuss this another time.” Julia played with her fingers. “Pippa you must know how this looks. Being alone with St. Clara in Henry’s study in disarray.” Julia walked over to her friend, placing her curls in place.

“Yes, I’m aware. If you all will excuse me, I must return to my aunt.” Pippa fled the room in a swirl of skirts and beauty.With her dark hair slightly unkept and her cheeks rosy, she was a vision to him.

As she walked away, a piece of him was gone forever. But no, there was hope. He had felt it in their kiss, heard it in her breathy moans.

“Is this how you think a gentleman behaves with a lady?” Heartford scolded, forcing St. Clara meet his gaze.

“What would you know about being a gentleman? I am aware of your activities while I was engaged to your wife,” St. Clara reminded him with a tilt of his head.

Heartford face went ashen in shock. “You told him?”

She swatted the air, dismissing the accusation. “No, of course not. He guessed.”

“I’m rather good at guessing,” St. Clara assured him.

“Then I suggest you guess your way out of this mess you’re creating with Miss Price before she is married to that ogre Summerset.” He poked a long finger into St. Clara’s shoulder. “You and I both know why that is not a good idea.”

He hated when Heartford was right, but he needed to get Pippa off to Gretna Green and away from Summerset before the banns were read. Not only did St. Clara not like the way Summerset glared at Pippa, but he knew of the other man’s treatment toward the fairer sex.

“May we please return to our guests before you two start quarreling like children?” Julia walked out of the office, leaving the two men behind.