“I don’t give a shit. Take the shot. I’m not letting go.”
Jesus, what had crawled up his ass? I swung my mallet and my shot was no better than his last one had been. Frederick and Victoria were through the next hoop already. We were getting our asses kicked.
He took my hand and we walked a little farther away from Frederick and Victoria than we had been between the other shots. “Look. I’m having a lot of fun hanging out with you. Just being with you, and it’s made me realize that I’ve never had that before.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’ve never spent time with a woman just because I liked her company.”
Sure he had.
He clearly knew what I was thinking. “Of course I’ve spent time with women; it’s a prerequisite to getting laid. I’ve just never done so fully clothed, or just because I enjoy their company. All I’m trying to say is that I like sleeping with you, but I like just hanging out, too.” He shrugged. “Maybe if I’d realized it could be this good, I would have given it a shot sooner.”
I paused before I said anything, trying to process what he was saying.
“Have I pissed you off?” he asked.
“Your shot,” Frederick called from the other side of the lawn.
“Christ, the guy’s a prick. Can’t he see that we’re having a conversation?”
The crinkle in his forehead and his annoyance at Frederick interrupting us was irresistibly cute.
“Kiss me,” I said.
“Kiss you?”
I grabbed his collar and pulled him toward me. “I have to ask twice?” It was the only answer I had to his confession. I didn’t want him to realize how good it felt for him to tell me he liked my company. Because the way he’d said it sounded genuine. Unguarded. And after dating a million men since my divorce, it was a relief. Because I felt the same. I liked his company, too.
He grinned and bent to kiss me. But I didn’t let him pull away after a quick press of his lips. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and slid my lips against his. He groaned and pulled me closer as his tongue met mine, urgent and needy.
Just before my knees started to buckle, wolf whistles and cheering came from behind us and I released my hands. I’d forgotten we were on stage.
But then, I wasn’t performing when I kissed him. And something told me he wasn’t that good an actor either.
“Go and get this old duke something to wet my palate,” Ryder’s grandfather said to Ryder as the three of us sat opposite the croquet lawn, watching Darcy and Violet play against Max and Harper.
Ryder stood and patted his grandfather on the shoulder. “Of course. Scarlett—”
“You can be without her for just a few minutes, Ryder. I’ll take care of her,” the duke said.
The sun was starting to go down and the air had a cold edge to it that hadn’t been there earlier but the light was beautiful, the sort I imagined painters always tried to recreate.
“This has been a lovely afternoon,” I said as I watched Ryder walk toward the drinks table.
“Made all the better for your presence. I’ve never seen Ryder quite so at ease with himself.”
“I guess our arrangement takes the pressure off.”
“How so?”
“You know, because it doesn’t matter if his friends or family like me. Or if I do or say the wrong thing. It matters to me, of course. But Ryder doesn’t have to worry.”
“I’m not sure that would ever be a concern for Ryder. That young man has got a mighty will. No one can make him do anything he doesn’t want to do. Or force him to have an opinion that isn’t his own.”
I smiled. That was true. “I guess.” I shrugged.
We clapped as Harper’s ball went straight through the hoop. She hadn’t been playing very well up until then, and I could tell from her determined face that she wasn’t about to let the game, or the other team, beat her.
“Did I ever tell you how I met my wife?” the duke asked as the clapping died down.
“I don’t think you did,” I replied.
“I was twenty-five. And the last thing I wanted to do was settle down. It was the sixties and I took full advantage of the free love, though in the end, I still had my responsibilities to the estate and my father.”
Looking out over the lawn, he continued. “My mother picked my wife for me. She was very suitable. Came from a good family. Bred to understand her duties and responsibilities to the estate very well.”
I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. “Duties?” I asked.
“The Woolton Estate, being Duchess of Fairfax—it’s all a big responsibility. It takes a lot of work. And my mother understood that. Of course, I tried to resist the union for as long as possible. I refused to meet my wife for months. But eventually, my parents invited her to our annual summer garden party.” His face broke out into a huge smile and he began to shake his head. “I didn’t think she was suited to me in the slightest and I hated my parents for forcing this stranger onto me. I thought she was meek, and far too serious.”
“I had no idea. I’m sorry that you were forced to marry someone you didn’t love.” I might be marrying Ryder, but I was doing it out of choice and it was going to last a maximum of three years. The duke had married for life.
He patted me on the hand. “Don’t be. Marrying the duchess was the best thing I ever did.” He was giving me whiplash. “Sometimes, the most unusual circumstances can throw two people together—that doesn’t mean they’re not perfect for each other.” He sighed. “It took me a while to realize what I had, to understand her strength and vulnerability, her character and her beauty. And when I realized who she was and recognized I’d fallen in love, I kicked myself for not valuing her more highly, more quickly. From that moment on, she was a treasure to me.”
“Here you are, Grandfather,” Ryder said, interrupting our conversation and handing the duke a glass. “What are you two talking about?” he asked, taking a seat and turning toward the game. I’d lost interest in who was winning. I was more intrigued about what the duke had been saying. His message was clearly meant for me to take as a lesson, but I wasn’t sure what it was he saw in Ryder and me that made him think that his experience could be applied in our circumstances.
“I’m just telling Scarlett here about your grandmother, and how much I adored her.”
“You treated her like a queen,” Ryder said.
“Because that’s what she deserved. And she treated me like a king in return.” The duke chuckled.
“You were made for each other. Two sides of the same coin,” Ryder said.
“You’re right,” the duke replied. “We grew to be.”
“You used to tell Darcy and me about how you met at the summer ball and how you swept her off her feet.”
He nodded. “She liked me to tell that story. Said she loved the romance of it, even if most of it was exaggerated.”