Free The Forbidden Duke by Darcy Burke Page A

aren’t?”
    His stepmother gave him a cross look. “I was hoping you might stay longer.” Her eyes narrowed, and he knew a discussion would be forthcoming—either now or later.
    His stepfather intervened, but not in the way Titus would have hoped. “Come, Miss Lockhart, let us sit down.” He guided her to the blanket.
    Titus’s stepmother pulled him a discreet distance from the blankets and, more importantly, from inquisitive ears. Clearly the interview was to come now. “Can’t you stay a little while?”
    “Why? You have this Dawson chap on leading strings already, do you not? Plus any number of other gentlemen. I’ve done what I said I would.”
    She studied him with a small frown. “You seem annoyed. Do you have a problem with Dawson?”
    Hell. He didn’t even know the man. He only knew the thought of him—of anyone —courting Nora was akin to a splinter stuck beneath his thumbnail. “I’m sure Dawson is splendid.” He made an effort not to grit his teeth.
    She peered at him expectantly. “Is there any possibility you might be interested in Miss Lockhart?”
    Interested. That word could encompass many things. Did he want to converse with her about such inanities as the weather and the color of the ocean? Yes. Did he wish to dance with her or take her out in a dinghy on a tiny lake? Yes and yes. Did he desire the heat of her gaze upon him, the touch of her hand, the press of her lips against his ? Holy hell, yes.
    He looked over at her sitting next to his stepfather on the blanket. He could almost smell her lilac scent.  
    “No,” he said tightly, thinking that the constrained sound of that single word somehow approximated the feel of his breeches around his thickening cock. It was past time to leave.
    His stepmother’s answering look indicated she didn’t entirely believe him, but he didn’t care to debate the point. “Well, if you were, I would endorse your suit.”
    Of course she would. She wouldn’t care if Titus wished to court a washerwoman or a princess. She only wanted him to be happy. And that was why he loved her.
    “I’m leaving now.” He took a step toward the path.
    “Will you come for dinner later?” she asked.
    During the Season, he typically had dinner with them once a week or so. But that was when it had just been the three of them. Now there was Nora, to whom he was apparently insanely attracted. “I don’t know. I have some things to read.”
    She rolled her eyes but smiled too. “You always do. I hope we’ll see you. You know you’re always welcome.”
    He chanced another glance at Nora and had the air sucked straight from his lungs when he saw she was looking right at him. Those inquisitive, gorgeous eyes of hers seemed as though they might pierce directly into his soul, if he let them.
    And he wouldn’t. Of all the women he might finally allow into his life, she was the one he couldn’t consider. She was the one who’d eviscerate him if she ever discovered the role he’d played in her downfall—and rightly so.

Chapter Seven

    N ora clutched the side of the small boat as it teetered precariously.
    Mr. Dawson laughed warmly. “I’ve got it now, I think.” They’d been in the boat ten minutes, and he was having the devil of a time figuring out how to row properly. Nora feared they were going to end up swimming in the small lake.
    The craft evened out, and Nora loosened her grip, though she kept one hand on the side. Why, she didn’t know. It wasn’t as if holding on to the boat would save her from a dunking if they tipped over. She wondered if Kendal would’ve had such trouble and instantly doubted it. His entire demeanor suggested he commanded everything he did. He wouldn’t allow a small watercraft to be a nuisance.
    She looked over at Mr. Dawson, with whom she’d danced last night. He was a pleasant fellow perhaps five years her senior. A widower, he was on the hunt for a wife—and a mother for his two children back in Sussex. He seemed an affable