Free Claiming His Wife by Golden Angel Page B

seeing as they didn't even come into the capital for
the Season if they could help it. As the dinner went on, it became
easier to ignore Irene; helped, of course, by his greater interest
in his own wife.
    "Where will go you after the wedding
is over?"  Grace was asking Wesley.  Her eyes flitted
over to Alex, and then immediately away again when she saw that he
was looking at her.  The question garnered Cynthia's
attention, turning her away from Hugh, as she looked at Wesley, her
head cocked slightly to the side.  Apparently, whatever plans
he had, he hadn't seen fit to inform his future wife
about.
    "We hadn't discussed it yet," Wesley
said, a small smile alighting his face as he looked over at his
soon-to-be wife.  "Probably somewhere on the
Continent."
    "Paris," Cynthia said
definitively, her eyes coming alight with excitement at the thought
of seeing new places.
    Wesley raised an eyebrow at her.
 Paris was certainly a popular choice, but he wasn't entirely
enamored of the idea of Cynthia surrounded by Frenchmen.  Men
were always going to be intrigued by her ample charms, but the
French would certainly be the most outspoken about
it.  
    "Perhaps," he allotted.  "Italy
is also beautiful this time of year."
    Cynthia opened her mouth
as if to argue, and then seemed to think better of it as Wesley
gave her another warning look from across the table.  Alex
wondered if he could use such a look to the same effect with Grace.
 Probably not, since she was doing her best to avoid his gaze
anyway. During the dinner he’d made it a point to study the other
men and how they interacted with their wives. All three of them
made great use of certain, firm, looks when they felt like their
wives were bordering on being rude or beginning a discussion they
didn’t approve of. More interestingly was how they easily managed
to catch their wives’ eyes.
    A small shift in position, a discreet
cough, and that was all it took. Alex was determined to try it with
Grace eventually, although from watching her he knew that she was
peeking at him on a regular basis anyway. He didn’t even try to
hide his own focus on her, he wanted her to see how she took up his
attention entirely.
    "Eleanor and I quite enjoyed Paris,"
Edwin said, grinning down the length of the table at his wife.
 The blushing, happy look she gave him only reminded Alex of
the way he and Grace used to have such easy intimacy and
significant looks.  Hell, he used to smile; now, whenever he
did so, it felt like a strain on his facial muscles, they were so
out of practice.  
    Still, they were at this
dinner as a couple, and despite the moments of tension, overall the
evening was going well.  Grace hadn't been rude or insulting,
she'd even responded to him once during the conversation, and
sometimes it was almost possible to forget that they were the only
unhappy couple at the table.  This was what he'd been missing
all these years.
    The intimate gathering was
something he’d been missing as well. This was the kind of small
party that marked very deep friendships, where there was no pomp or
circumstance, no social masks or pretense. Not since his school
days had he had friendships this close, and it was all the more
enjoyable because they were Grace’s friends as well. If anything
could help heal the breach between him and his wife, it was the
people around this table.
    ******
    They rode back to their house at the
end of the evening in silence.  In some ways, Grace wished
this evening had never happened.  When Alex was being pleasant
and charming, when they were surrounded by friends and enjoying
themselves, it was almost hard to remember that things hadn't
always been that way between them.  Tonight had been so close
to being everything Grace had hoped for, wished for, in a marriage.
 Except that it was years too late.
    It made her irritable, despite the
nice night that she'd had.  
    "Come on, Gracie," Alex said, holding
out his hand to help her out of the