Read Online A Valentine For Christmas - A Regency Novella by Kate Harper - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kate Harper
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little.’ She took a seat and smiled up at him encouragingly. ‘Please. Sit for a while with me, won’t you?’
He gave her another wary look but took the opposite seat, which rather surprised her. He had the look of a man about to bolt. ‘You are going to ask questions I really would prefer not to answer, aren’t you?’ he predicted grimly.
Charlie gave him her best look of wide-eyed innocence. It was a particularly good look that she practiced regularly. In a household such as this, expressing innocence was entirely necessary. ‘Lord Valentine, I only have your best interests at heart.’
‘People who open with those words never have my best interests at heart. The only interest they actually have is to interfere in something that is none of their business,’ he said bluntly.
‘I admit that your business is no concern of mine -’
‘Ah-ha!’
‘But that does not mean that I do not want to help you. You see, I honestly believe that your aversion to Christmas relates to some trauma you must have experienced in the past and that, with a little effort, you can move past it.’
Lord Valentine leaned back in his chair and surveyed her through half closed eyes. ‘Is that what you believe?’ he drawled, ‘how very perceptive of you. And you think that, if I reveal the nature of my aversion, that I might be cured? That I might be a changed man?’
Charlie nodded eagerly. ‘Exactly!’
‘But I do not want to change. I am perfectly happy avoiding this ghastly season and only ask that others would let me get on with it. I do not interfere in your life. Why the devil should you interfere in mine?’
She ignored the curse, surely the sign of a man who is fighting against Change. Lord Valentine was a fine looking man, a noble looking man. Surely such a visage could not belong to a base nature? He might not want to admit it, but part of him must yearn for deliverance from this unfortunate state of affairs.
‘Pray tell me… how long has Christmas not been to your liking?’
‘Oh please!’
‘No, really. I am honestly curious.’
‘Of course you are. What female is not? But as I have no intention of discussing my past with you, your curiosity will have to remain unsatisfied.’ He rose to his feet with an air of finality. ‘I appreciate your concern for me, but believe me when I say that it is unfounded.’
‘Please wait,’ Charlie, seeing her chance of furthering discovery on the brink of disappearing, rose quickly to her feet as well and laid a hand on his arm. ‘I know you think I am quite shockingly interfering but I only want to help.’
Lord Valentine paused, looking down at her. In a moment his expression changed, moving from irritation to something far more incomprehensible. She did not understand that look, not consciously, but something inside her shifted, sensing the change in him. Her breath came more quickly and a queer, flip-flopping sensation could be felt in the pit of her stomach. When he reached out a hand, fingers catching hold of her chin to tilt her face up, she did not protest. She could not, surprise mixing with a strange, new feeling that kept her still, gazing up into those fathomless dark eyes. For a long moment they merely looked at each other while the whole world stood still. Then, almost inevitably, he dropped his head and Charlie’s eyes closed as his lips found her own.
Her first kiss. It was oddly familiar and yet, at the same time, utterly surprising, as if she was rediscovering something she had always sensed but had never come across until now.
Lord Valentine’s kiss made her entire body tingle with an effervescent warmth that started at her toes and ended with at the crown of her head. It was as if a sultry wind had blown threw her, heating up every part of her body. His mouth was surprisingly firm, surprisingly demanding but then, as this was her first ever kiss she was inclined to be surprised in every way. Never before had she felt so female as she did when
He gave her another wary look but took the opposite seat, which rather surprised her. He had the look of a man about to bolt. ‘You are going to ask questions I really would prefer not to answer, aren’t you?’ he predicted grimly.
Charlie gave him her best look of wide-eyed innocence. It was a particularly good look that she practiced regularly. In a household such as this, expressing innocence was entirely necessary. ‘Lord Valentine, I only have your best interests at heart.’
‘People who open with those words never have my best interests at heart. The only interest they actually have is to interfere in something that is none of their business,’ he said bluntly.
‘I admit that your business is no concern of mine -’
‘Ah-ha!’
‘But that does not mean that I do not want to help you. You see, I honestly believe that your aversion to Christmas relates to some trauma you must have experienced in the past and that, with a little effort, you can move past it.’
Lord Valentine leaned back in his chair and surveyed her through half closed eyes. ‘Is that what you believe?’ he drawled, ‘how very perceptive of you. And you think that, if I reveal the nature of my aversion, that I might be cured? That I might be a changed man?’
Charlie nodded eagerly. ‘Exactly!’
‘But I do not want to change. I am perfectly happy avoiding this ghastly season and only ask that others would let me get on with it. I do not interfere in your life. Why the devil should you interfere in mine?’
She ignored the curse, surely the sign of a man who is fighting against Change. Lord Valentine was a fine looking man, a noble looking man. Surely such a visage could not belong to a base nature? He might not want to admit it, but part of him must yearn for deliverance from this unfortunate state of affairs.
‘Pray tell me… how long has Christmas not been to your liking?’
‘Oh please!’
‘No, really. I am honestly curious.’
‘Of course you are. What female is not? But as I have no intention of discussing my past with you, your curiosity will have to remain unsatisfied.’ He rose to his feet with an air of finality. ‘I appreciate your concern for me, but believe me when I say that it is unfounded.’
‘Please wait,’ Charlie, seeing her chance of furthering discovery on the brink of disappearing, rose quickly to her feet as well and laid a hand on his arm. ‘I know you think I am quite shockingly interfering but I only want to help.’
Lord Valentine paused, looking down at her. In a moment his expression changed, moving from irritation to something far more incomprehensible. She did not understand that look, not consciously, but something inside her shifted, sensing the change in him. Her breath came more quickly and a queer, flip-flopping sensation could be felt in the pit of her stomach. When he reached out a hand, fingers catching hold of her chin to tilt her face up, she did not protest. She could not, surprise mixing with a strange, new feeling that kept her still, gazing up into those fathomless dark eyes. For a long moment they merely looked at each other while the whole world stood still. Then, almost inevitably, he dropped his head and Charlie’s eyes closed as his lips found her own.
Her first kiss. It was oddly familiar and yet, at the same time, utterly surprising, as if she was rediscovering something she had always sensed but had never come across until now.
Lord Valentine’s kiss made her entire body tingle with an effervescent warmth that started at her toes and ended with at the crown of her head. It was as if a sultry wind had blown threw her, heating up every part of her body. His mouth was surprisingly firm, surprisingly demanding but then, as this was her first ever kiss she was inclined to be surprised in every way. Never before had she felt so female as she did when
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