Page 9 of The One With the Wayward Duke (The One With the Wanton Woman #5)

“F REYA,” TOBIAS STARTED TO say her name, but if he said anything else, she missed it. Her mind was already racing.

She was not this person. The person to make someone absolutely infuriated.

She was sure that not even Frank would be this upset…

and really, that was saying something about her relationship with him.

After all, where was he? He hadn’t chased after her.

None of them had, now that she thought about it. They just let her run away.

She wished that she could do more running and race down the corridor and talk to Audra about this. The handful of years between them mattered only in the best way, Audra would listen patiently and give wise advice based on her own experience.

And if Freya wanted even more experience to draw from, she could always go a few more doors down the corridor to her Aunt Wanda—one of the three aunts who had raised her after her mother passed away.

But she had a sneaking suspicion she could predict her Aunt Wanda’s advice which would be something akin to you only live once.

He doesn’t look that upset. I’m sure you can find a way to calm him down.

And then she might end it with a wink. It was that wink that Freya wasn’t always sure how to interpret.

But right now there was no wink. No Aunt Wanda. No Audra. No sisters. No one at all. She was on her own. She hoped no one had to experience this type of loneliness—of facing crisis and having to make decisions all on their own, but that was just wishful thinking.

And this was so bad. It was just too much. Freya did not want to deal with this. Not now. Probably never. Yes, never. That sounded like the perfect time to deal with this. This being a jilted groom like the one she had just left at the altar.

How on earth had this happened? If only he had introduced himself when they first met.

She would have never taken him up on his offer to get in his carriage.

She would have never had all these feelings for him.

Never had that fire-inducing dream. She would have been fireless and content because she would have gone with the hack.

Ew. That caused a shudder, knowing that would have led to a far worse fate.

She hadn’t comprehended just how desperate she had been until she realized she might have accepted that offer.

If she had known who Tobias was, she wouldn’t have allowed him to rescue her. She could have found someone else.

But his eyes…

The way he had looked at her as though she were worth protecting. Worth saving. She hoped she would have had the wisdom to refuse his offer.

But it didn’t matter. She was here with him now, so she had a choice to make. And, well, given her track record with men, she chose the most obvious option.

She ran.

Pushing past him, she opened the door and raced out of their private room.

With no destination in mind, she just knew she didn’t want to face him.

It was too much. Too real. The disappointment on his face.

The pain. She hated herself for being the reason for it.

And she hated that he felt that much of anything toward her.

They had only been with each other for less than a day, so she shouldn’t care what he thought or how he felt.

But somehow she cared a lot more than she even wanted to admit.

Squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the irritating tears that were about to burst, she rushed through the main room and headed toward the door. In her haste, she bumped into someone. She gave a half-hearted attempt at mumbling her apologies when a deep rumbling voice spoke.

“No need for apologies.” The words were kind but not entirely sincere.

She didn’t want to analyze this stranger’s words though, she just wanted out.

Now. Her palms were sweaty and her feet were aching to move, but for some reason the stranger wasn’t budging.

Lost in the crowd, no one was paying any attention to her discomfort.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” A firm hand found its way to her arm and pulled down. She must have been rubbing her neck because suddenly her throat felt the loss of heat from her own hand.

“I-I’m leaving,” she stuttered as she looked up into empty eyes. The man was tall, she had to strain her neck just to look up and see his face.

“Let me buy you a drink. I’m sure you’re not in a hurry to leave with the weath—”

“No. I’d like to leave. Now.”

His eyes glowered at her. “I’m not partial to the word no . So how about I just get your drink and we have a nice little chat.”

Could she not make any good choices today?

She wanted to listen to her heart, so why the deuce was her heart leading her into all these dreadful situations?

She needed to sit down and have a chat with her heart, never mind chatting with this buffoon of an ogre.

If she was going to tell her heart anything, it would be, Could you please consider the future situations you’ll be putting me in before you tell me to act in any specific ways?

Oh, and also, could you please—for the love of love—figure out what real love looks like? My future self thanks you.

Yes, she had a good couple of things to say to her heart. But what now? She needed to extricate herself from this precarious situation, but while the ogre-man motioned at the barmaid to bring them some drinks, he was also forcing her to sit down at the table.

When he sat down across from her, she jumped up, pushing the chair back. She had to make a run for it. A different kind of run this time. A run that didn’t feel as liberating because it was out of fear.

Just before she could bolt, she felt a bump up against her shoulder.

“What’s going on here?” It was Tobias. Freya felt the flood of relief flush through every cell of her body.

But when the ogre-man stood up to his full height, which was a few inches taller than the already-tall Tobias, her relief took a nosedive.

The ogre was not only taller and larger than Tobias, but he was also quite a bit fiercer looking.

Additionally on his side, he had the distinct advantage of not hating her to the extent that she knew Tobias did.

“We’re having a drink.” The ogre crossed his arms over his chest, though she wasn’t quite sure how he managed that amidst all his bulging muscles. “Got a problem with that?”

“I do.” Tobias’s two words were solemn and succinct.

The ogre-man laughed. Turning his head about the room only encouraged the other patrons to laugh along with him, for about now others were starting to see what was going on. As his laughter began to fade, he plunked himself back down in his chair.

“Get up.” Tobias demanded.

The ogre only lifted his brow in response.

“Get up and apologize to the lady.”

Palms splayed slowly across the table as the ogre decided his next course of action.

“She doesn’t want your company.” Tobias flashed his ring in the man’s face.

Then he placed his hands on the table and leaned into his face.

“I’ll not ask you again, so get up and apologize to the lady who said no to you because if you don’t, I won’t be the kind of gentleman who calls you out allowing you to prepare for a duel.

No. I’ll be your worst nightmare. The kind that haunts you at night until one time I decide to take you out of your misery. Permanently.”

At those words, Freya wanted to fan her face. Her body was hot all over. Every single square inch of her needed to be wiped down, blown upon, cooled down in any way possible.

The ogre slowly rose to his feet. Glaring at Tobias, he dropped his chin and directed his mumbling to Freya. “Apologies.” Then he sat back down.

Tobias was muttering something about a list. That was confusing.

And who the hell was that man who had just spoken to the ogre?

Tobias had never been so threatening, yet Freya’s heart was galloping toward him across an open field.

She would never have expected such fierceness, such possessiveness, such protection from Tobias.

There was an unfathomable depth to him that she wanted to plunge into.

And this, coming from the man who had such justification in hating her, he had been the one to rescue her. Again.