“It probably isn’t proper to say this,” Louisa said, “but I can’t wait to see you naked.”
Bloody hell. He backed away and held her at arm’s length, before he did something really stupid like drag her into the bushes and have his way with her. “Do you ever not say what’s on your mind?”
“I just gave you the censored version,” she answered with an impish grin. “Would you like to know what I’m really thinking?”
Of course he would, but this was not the time or place. “I’ll use my imagination.” He glanced up at the darkening sky and said, “It’s getting late. I should get you back inside.”
“Lest I turn into a pumpkin,” she said with a sigh and took his hand, as naturally as if they had known each other for years, and they walked down the path toward the castle.
“I had a good time tonight,” he said.
“Me, too. Although I get the feeling that I’m not quite what you expected.”
“No, you’re not. You’re more intriguing and compelling than I could have imagined.”
As she smiled up at him, he realized that was probably the most honest thing he’d said all night.
Louisa stood in the study, watching as Garrett’s car zipped down the drive, until the glow of his taillights disappeared past the front gate.
She sighed and rested her forehead against the cool glass. This had been, by far, one of the best nights of her life. Kissing Garrett had been … magical. Even if she had been the one to make the first move. Later, when he had kissed her goodbye, it was so sweet and tender she nearly melted into a puddle on the oriental rug.
He was definitely the one.
“He’s using you.”
Louisa whipped around to find Anne leaning in the study doorway, arms folded across her chest, her typical grumpy self. Typical for the last week or so, anyway.
“Why would you think that?” she asked.
“Because that’s what men like him do. They use women like us. They feed us lies, then toss us aside like trash.”
Louisa knew that, like herself, Anne hadn’t had the best luck with men, but that reasoning was harsh, even for her. “Are you okay, Anne?”
“He’s going to hurt you.”
Louisa shook her head. “Garrett is different.”
“How do you know that?”
“How do you know that he isn’t?”
Anne sighed and shook her head, as though she pitied her poor, naive sister. Louisa would have been upset, but she knew that attacking her was Anne’s way of working through her own anger. Not that she didn’t get a little tired of being her sister’s punching bag.
“I can take care of myself,” Louisa told her.
Anne shrugged, as though she didn’t care one way or another. Which she must, or she wouldn’t have said anything in the first place. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Did something happen to you?” Louisa asked, and she could swear she saw a flicker of pain before Anne carefully smothered it with a look of annoyance.
“You think that just because I don’t like Garrett, something is wrong with me?”
“You can talk to me, Anne. I want to help.”
“You’re the one who needs help if you think that man really has feelings for you.” With one last pathetic shake of her head, Anne turned and left. Her sister was obviously hurting, and Louisa felt bad about it, but she wished Anne would stop trying to drag Louisa down with her. Why couldn’t Anne just be happy for her for once?
Maybe she was jealous. Maybe Anne wanted Garrett for herself. Or maybe, like Louisa, she wanted someone to love her, to see her for who she really was. Even though Anne could be a real pain in the neck sometimes, deep down there was a sweetness about her, a tender side, and she was loyal to the death to the ones that she loved.
“You’ll meet someone, too,” Louisa whispered to the empty doorway, knowing with all her heart that it was true. Even though Anne was a little pessimistic and occasionally cranky, there was a man out there who would appreciate all her gifts and overlook her faults. He would love her for who she was, just the way Garrett would love Louisa.
Worried for her sister, she started out the door, intending to collect her Shih Tzu, Muffin—who had spent the afternoon with his groomer and behaviorist—and tell him all about her day, but she ran into Chris in the foyer.
“Poker game over already?” she asked. Typically they played well past eleven. Louisa didn’t play cards, unless you counted War and Solitaire, but occasionally she liked to sit and watch them.
“Melissa was tired and Liv wanted to get back to the lab. Some new research project she’s working on. I assume your evening was a success.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Have you got a minute?”
“Actually, I was just on my way to get Muffin.”
His expression darkened. “I suppose you heard what your little mutt did to the pillows on the library sofa. There was stuffing everywhere.”
She cringed. “Yes. Sorry.”
“The day before that it was Aaron’s shoes.”
“I know. I offered to replace them.”
“He’s a menace.”
“He just wants attention.”
“What he’s going to get is a nice doghouse in the gardens.”
Even if she thought Chris was serious, that wouldn’t work either because every time Muffin was let outside unsupervised he made a run for it.
“I’ll keep a closer eye on him,” she promised. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Let’s go in the study.”
She couldn’t tell if this would be a good talk, or a bad talk. But she had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Garrett.
Louisa sat on the sofa while Chris fixed himself a drink. In preparation for his role as future King, Chris had always been the most responsible and aggressive sibling. He honored the responsibility, oftentimes to his own personal detriment. Still it surprised and impressed Louisa, since having to take their father’s place while he was ill, how effortlessly Chris had slipped into his place and taken over his responsibilities. She had no doubt that if, God forbid, their father didn’t recover, Chris would make a fine king.
But she had every confidence that their father would make a full recovery. He simply had to.
“I want you to know,” Chris said, his back to her, “I didn’t appreciate you waiting until this morning to announce that you had invited Garrett to dinner.”
So he’d asked her here to scold her. Wonderful. “Can you really blame me? Had I said anything earlier I never would have heard the end of it.”
He turned to her, took a swallow of his drink, then said, “You could have been putting the family in danger.”
She rolled her eyes. “You say that like you haven’t known Garrett for years. If he was dangerous, I’m sure we’d have heard about it a long time ago.”
“You still have to follow the rules. We’ve all had to make sacrifices, Louisa.”
As if she didn’t know that. If they didn’t treat her