“I am grateful she didn’t include me in this scheme.”Selena shuddered.“She must have known I’d be against it.”She sighed.“Not that she’s shared her plans with any of us.Every moment will be one surprise after another.”
“I do not understand,” he said, narrowing his gaze.“What is your friend plotting?”
“Did I not just tell you I don’t know?”She sighed.“Emma keeps everything to herself, but I can tell you she’s definitely up to something.”She nodded toward the forts and snowballs.“And this is somehow essential to whatever she hopes to achieve.We certainly don’t want to be around when it all unfolds.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”He led her away from the upcoming snow battle.“They should start soon.Let’s walk in the opposite direction, shall we?”
Selena nodded.“And you couldn’t simply tell me what was planned?Was it truly necessary to walk outside?”
“I feared you wouldn’t believe the scale of it if you didn’t see it with your own eyes.”He grinned.“Tell me you didn’t enjoy witnessing the fruits of your friend’s labor.”
Selena laughed.“I wouldn’t go that far…” She snuggled against him, filling him with a joy he hadn’t expected.“But I am glad that it all seems to be going well for her.She’ll share her intentions when she’s ready.”
“You are close,” he observed, “with Emma and the others?”
“If you mean Lilah, Cora, and Victoria, then yes.They’re the friends I never dreamed I’d have, yet here we are.There’s little I wouldn’t do for them.”
Kingston nodded.“I feel the same about my friends.”
“Which is why we’re both here,” she added.“Otherwise, we’d be at home, not mingling with people we find distasteful.”
“Precisely,” he agreed.“Present company excluded, of course, but some of these guests are horrid.What was Lady Harcrest thinking?The worst of the worst at Christmastide?”He shuddered.“How unfortunate.”
“Well,” Selena replied, “Lilah loathes entertaining.This wasn’t her idea.”She lifted her gaze to his.“As I said, we would do anything for each other.”
He tilted his head, finally understanding.Realization dawned on him.“This is for Emma.”
“It’s for Emma,” she confirmed.
How many of these house parties had also been designed with some hidden motive?The five friends had all been wallflowers, overlooked by society.He didn’t believe the ladies had schemed to trap his friends into marriage, but their plans had certainly led them down that path.Kingston wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
“I suppose we should return to the house,” he suggested.
“So soon, Your Grace?”she teased, giving him an impish smile.“I thought you enjoyed the cold?”
“I never claimed any fondness for the cold,” he replied.Though it had given him something unexpected—her warmth as she leaned against him.He wouldn’t trade that for anything.“But your cheeks are flushed, and your lips are turning a lovely shade of blue.It’s time we returned to a room with a roaring fire.”And perhaps, he thought, he could kiss those lips until they were a rosy pink once more.
“Very well,” she said with a laugh.“You won’t hear any complaints from me.”
They turned back toward the manor, walking in companionable silence.Kingston had no idea what schemes she might be harboring, but he had his own plans brewing.All his thoughts were centered on pulling her close, kissing her deeply, and perhaps, in time, claiming her in every way.But for now, he’d start with that kiss he’d been longing for.The rest would come in due time, for he was certain of one thing—Selena was meant to be his.Forever.And he’d lay his fortune on the line to make sure of it.
Five
Kingston strolled into the library, hoping to find Selena lounging on one of the settees.He did not expect to encounter his friend, the Marquess of Ardmore, glaring at a ladder as if it had personally offended him.Taking a moment to study his friend, Kingston frowned.“What seems to be bothering you?”
The marquess looked up, startled.“Apologies,” Ardmore began.“I did not hear you enter.What was it you asked?”
Something was clearly troubling him.Kingston’s frown deepened.“I asked if something was bothering you, but it’s obvious something is.So, what ails you, my friend?”
Ardmore shook his head.“It is nothing—or nothing for you to be concerned about.”He gestured toward the ladder.“Emma neglected to move this after hanging mistletoe.”
Kingston glanced at the ladder and then upward to where the sprig had been hung.He grinned.How perfect.The next time he saw Emma he would have to hug the woman for her ingenious scheming.“How much mistletoe does she plan on hanging?”And where had she already hung it all?Kingston had planned on kissing Selena soon, but this gave him the excuse he needed to act on that impulse.
Ardmore shrugged.“She did not specify, but from what I have gleaned of her mind, expect it to be absolutely everywhere she could reach to string it up.”
How intriguing.Was Ardmore harboring a soft spot for Miss Emma Collins?It seemed so, though Kingston refrained from probing further—he did not want Ardmore to ask him similarly pointed questions.He was well aware of his growing attraction to Selena and did not want to discuss it prematurely.“I will bear that in mind,” Kingston replied.
“Best that you do,” Ardmore said with a wry smile.“Some of the ladies here may see that mistletoe as an opportunity.You would not want one of them to get it into her head to entrap a duke.”
