Free Forbidden by Lauren Smith Page A

really just wanted to drag him into her dorm room again? Yeah…she knew without a doubt that if he showed up in her life again, they’d end up in trouble because he would kiss her and if he kissed her it would lead to so much more…

Chapter 7
    Y ou have that funny look on your face again.” Celia laughed softly and nudged Tristan’s leg under the table with her high-heeled black boot.
    For the last ten minutes, he’d been watching the door of a bookshop, waiting, holding his breath. Kat was inside. It had been sheer luck that he’d convinced Celia to meet him at the little café across the street, because he intended to pick up the book he’d ordered for Kat from G. David’s.
    They’d only just taken their seats in front of the window when an all-too-familiar, tantalizing figure trudged through the snow to the store across the street.
    His Kat. Well…she would be his soon enough.
    “Tristan, what is the matter with you? Is everything all right? I’ve never seen you so distracted. First last night, now this morning. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were trying to placate me by agreeing to have lunch.” Celia frowned when he glanced her way. She always worried about him, but that was part of who she was. While she was beautiful, fashionable, and independent, she had a softer, more nurturing side to her that many daughters of the peerage lacked. Last night, when he’d called off their drinks, she’d let him go, but only if he agreed to meet up today so she could get to see him.
    They were first cousins—her mother was Tristan’s father’s younger sister—but they had grown up together as close as siblings. Tristan had come to appreciate her friendship over the years, and how he could talk to her about everything—well, almost everything. Carter was the one exception. Celia was in love with Carter and couldn’t have him because her father would never allow it.
    She’d always looked to Carter with those adoring hazel eyes, in a way that sometimes made Tristan jealous. Not because he wanted Celia, but because he longed for a woman of his own to look at him like that. As though he’d hung the moon and captured a string of stars for a necklace. He’d been with plenty of women, all of whom had looked at him like the social stepping-stone he was. Tristan loathed it. As much as he loved the things that his position in society provided, he wanted people to care about who he was as person, not his family’s lineage.
    “Don’t ignore me, cousin,” Celia chided, her eyes narrowed. “Out with it. You’re distracted by something, and I want to know what it is.”
    “Are you free next week?” Rather than answer her question, he changed the subject.
    “Free for?” She’d make a good countess, or a duchess, if she ever married that high. Knowing her parents, he realized, she’d have to, because they would pressure her to pick a man of their choosing.
    “Carter and I were thinking of having an end-of-semester-exams party next weekend. Would you like to help host?”
    Celia’s face lit up. “I do so love a party.” Her excitement quickly morphed into curiosity. “Whenever you say ‘you and Carter’ it always ends up being only you who did the planning. Does poor Carter know you’ve roped him into this?”
    Tristan shrugged. “Carter will be happy to be involved, especially if you’re there.” He let the teasing hint drop and took a sip of his hot tea, watching her over the rim of his cup, expecting her to react to his playful hint. But she didn’t take the bait, clever Celia, and she composed herself like a queen before replying.
    “So, a party next weekend. At Fox Hill, I assume?”
    “Yes.” His eyes drifted back on the bookshop door as it opened and Kat walked out. Her long hair was slightly curled at the ends, which gave the lustrous locks an enticing bounce. Tristan ached to wrap his fingers in the strands and tug lightly as he kissed her.
    The fantasy of possessing her, owning