‘I did not force myself on her.’ It was still important to him that this boundary was not crossed. If Kate wanted him to kiss her, then he would, but she had to initiate things. His mind chose that moment to think through all the delicious things she could ask for and for a moment he was lost in blissful imaginings.
‘I do not want to know what you are thinking right now.’
Edward ducked his head, feeling his skin heat. He’d prefer it if his younger brother did not see his blush; he would be merciless.
‘Moving on before I vomit up all the good food from last night, I know you did not force yourself on Miss Hornel. I understand you well enough to appreciate that once you have a rule fixed in your mind, you do not break it, but you still kissed her.’
Edward said nothing.
‘Oh.’ Christopher’s eyes were shining, his whole body alight with joy. ‘You did not make the first move. She kissed you.’
Edward folded his arms across his chest. He’d liked Christopher a lot more over the summer that had just passed than he did now. When the two of them had been laughing at Freddie and his haphazard courtship of his now wife, he had almost believed Christopher and he were friends. Christopher was a bounder with a brain the size of a pea and the sooner he went away the better.
‘It does not matter how much you glare at me, it changes nothing,’ said Christopher gleefully.
‘She does not want me,’ he blurted out before clamping his lips tightly shut. Dear God. What had possessed him to blurt that out? ‘Forget it. I do not want to talk about it.’
Some of Christopher’s delight dimmed. ‘What do you mean?’
Edward shrugged. He really should have kept his mouth shut; there was still time not to make this worse and yet for some reason the words still managed to come out like he had no control over them. ‘I am a distraction.’
‘What do you mean?’
He was not about to share what had happened between Kate and Chorley; Kate had not given him permission to tell anyone else and he was not above admitting to himself that he liked being the one who knew more about her. But Christopher,Freddie and Emily had been at the ball last night and knew Kate had seen a previous employer who had treated her badly. Not one of them had questioned her, perhaps seeing the fear in her eyes or the taut lines at the edge of her mouth; whatever the reason, they had all agreed to leave the ball early. He supposed they weren’t all bad, even if Christopher was delighting in tormenting him. ‘Kate wanted some fun after last night.’
‘And she considered you fun?’
‘There is no need to sound sceptical.’
Christopher grinned unrepentantly. ‘I find it hard to imagine you relaxed and carefree. You always seem so uptight, but maybe some women like that.’
‘If rumours are to be believed, you know a lot about what women like.’
Christopher did not look as pleased with this observation as Edward might have imagined. ‘A gentleman never tells.’
Edward rubbed his eyes. Damn, he was tired. He needed some sleep, preferably for a week before he had to deal with his brother again.
‘If you would like my advice,’ said Christopher.
‘No, thank you.’
‘That is a shame, because you are going to get it anyway. Try to persuade Miss Hornel to enjoy a little bit morefun.’
This was, in fact, exactly what he wanted to hear, even if he would deny it if asked outright. ‘How will that work?’
‘The best result will be that she realises how much she enjoys it and wants to keep doing it with you specifically.’
‘And the worst?’
‘You will get to spend time havingfunwith the woman of your dreams. I can honestly not see a downside to this plan.’
‘I’m still not sure how it would work.’
‘You are a lot older than me; surely you have enough experience to draw on and therefore do not need my advice.’
‘I do not understand why you keep insisting on the difference in our age. Two years is nothing. And… I have never really had to try hard with a woman before.’ Maybe it was being the son of a duke or maybe it was because he’d not been worried about getting his heart broken in the past, but getting a woman to spend time with him had never previously been a problem.
‘I insist on saying it because it is amusing to watch you get in a huff about our vast difference in age.’ Christopher chuckled when he caught Edward’s eye-roll. ‘I understand what you mean about not trying too hard.’ Christopher folded his arms and leaned against the wall. ‘Could you compliment her on her hair or her dress? Heaven knows you cannot say good things about her musical ability. How she manages to make a pianoforte sound like a cat is dying is beyond me.’
