Billie snorted out a laugh. It was not particularly feminine, but on her it was charming. She leaned toward him, her expression pure dare. “I think you’re jealous.”
George felt his stomach flip. Surely she didn’t realize… No. These thoughts he’d been having about her… temporary madness. Brought on by proximity. That had to be it. He’d spent more time with her in the past week than he had in years. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said scornfully.
“I don’t know,” Billie teased. “All the ladies are flocking to his side. You said yourself he has a handsome smile.”
“I said,” George bit out before realizing he didn’t remember precisely what he’d said. Luckily for him, Billie had already interrupted him.
“The only lady who hasn’t fallen under his spell is the illustrious Lady Alexandra.” She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “Probably because she’s so busy trying to gain your favor.”
“Are you jealous?” he countered.
“Please,” she scoffed, moving on to the next spot.
He followed, one step behind. “You didn’t say no…”
“No,” she said with great emphasis. “Of course I’m not jealous. I think she’s touched in the head quite honestly.”
“Because she’s trying to gain my favor?” he could not help but ask.
She held her hand out for another wicket. “Of course not. That’s probably the most sensible thing she’s ever done.”
He paused. “Why does that sound like an insult?”
“It’s not,” Billie assured him. “I would never be so ambiguous.”
“No, that’s true,” he murmured. “You insult with pure transparency.”
She rolled her eyes before returning to the topic of Lady Alexandra. “I was talking about her obsession with Lord Northwick. He’s engaged to her sister, for heaven’s sake.”
“Ah, that.”
“Ah, that,” she mimicked, shoving another wicket into the ground. “What is wrong with her?”
George was saved from answering by Andrew, who was bellowing their names again, along with a rather vehement exhortation to hurry along.
Billie snorted. “I can’t believe he thinks he can beat me with a broken arm.”
“You do realize that if you win —”
“When I win.”
“Should you win, you will look the worst sort of champion, taking advantage of the weakness of others.”
She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “I can barely walk myself.”
“You, Miss Bridgerton, have a convenient grasp on reality.”
She grinned. “Convenient for me, yes.”
He shook his head, smiling despite himself.
“Now then,” she said, lowering her voice even though no one was within earshot, “you’re on my team, are you not?”
George narrowed his eyes. “Since when are there teams?”
“Since today.” She leaned closer. “We must crush Andrew.”
“You’re beginning to frighten me, Billie.”
“Don’t be silly, you’re just as competitive as I am.”
“Do you know, I don’t think I am.”
“Of course you are. You just show it differently.”
He thought she might elucidate, but of course she did not.
“You don’t want Andrew to win, do you?” she asked.
“I’m not certain how much I care.”
She drew back.
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. She looked so affronted. “No, of course I don’t want him to win,” he said. “He’s my brother. But at the same time, I’m not sure I feel the need to resort to espionage to ensure the outcome.”
She stared at him with heavy, disappointed eyes.
“Oh, fine,” he gave in. “Who’s on Andrew’s team, then?”
She brightened up immediately. “No one. That’s the beauty of it. He won’t know that we’ve formed an alliance.”
“There is no way this ends well,” he said, sending the words out to the world at large.
He was fairly certain the world was not listening.
Billie set the last wicket into place. “This one’s evil,” she told him. “Overshoot and you’re in the rosebushes.”
“I shall take that under advisement.”
“Do.” She smiled, and his breath caught. No one smiled like Billie. No one ever had. He’d known this for years and yet… it was only now…
He indulged in a mental curse. This had to be the most inconvenient attraction in the history of man. Billie Bridgerton, for God’s sake. She was everything he’d never wanted in a woman. She was headstrong, stupidly reckless, and if she’d ever had a mysterious, feminine moment in her life, he’d never seen it.
And yet…
He swallowed.
He wanted her. He wanted her like he’d never wanted anything in his life. He wanted her smile, and he wanted it exclusively. He wanted her in his arms, beneath his body… because somehow he knew that in his bed, she would be everything mysterious and feminine.
He also knew that every single one of these delightful activities required that he marry her, which was so patently ludicrous that — “Oh, for God’s sake,” Billie muttered.
George snapped back to attention.
“Andrew’s coming over,” she said. “Hold your horses!” she bellowed. “I swear,” she said to George, “he is so impatient.”
“Said the —”