Read Online Love According To Lily by Julianne MacLean - Free Book Online

cruel. He had just openly rejected her. She looked humiliated.
    But no, it was more than that. She looked hurt. Heartbroken.
    His gut wrenched. Good God, was there more to this than he realized? Was this more than a light flirtation on her part? Did she actually fancy herself in love with him?
    “Well, I should go,” she said.
    Whitby merely nodded.
    She lowered her gaze and walked off. As soon as she was out of sight, he squeezed his eyes shut and cupped his forehead in a hand. Bloody hell.
    What in God’s name had caused this foolishness in her head? He hadn’t done anything to inspire it, had he? He wracked his brain. No, he couldn’t recall anything. Not before last night.
    Had she lost her mind?
    He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how in the world he was going to treat Lily gently and tactfully over the next few days. She was not like other women he could simply avoid if he needed to. She was Lily, and this was a problem because he cared for her. But not
that
way.
    Well… He watched her in the distance, reaching the house. Maybe he did feel something, but that was only because he was a man with a heightened awareness of feminine sexuality. He picked up on it like a wolf on a scent, and his libido sometimes responded quicker than his brain. He would not let himself think it was more than that.
    Either way, he did not want to flirt with Lily or lead her on in any way, and he hated the fact that he might have to hurt her or humiliate her if she did not come to understand that he was not interested. Because he was not. Nor would he ever be.
    He glanced to make sure she was not going to come back, and when he saw her disappear into the house, he sighed deeply with relief, then reached into his pocket for his flask. While he unscrewed the cap, he recalled that he had promised himself he wouldn’t touch it until teatime.
    He paused for a moment, staring at it, then he brought it to his lips and tipped it up until it was gone.

 
    Chapter 7
      
    That evening, Lily sat in the green saloon with the other guests, waiting for the theatricals to begin. Lady Stanton and Sir Hatley had prepared a short play. Whitby was seated on the other side of the room, avoiding Lily again, but tonight it didn’t just seem like he was. She knew he was. He had made it abundantly clear today, and had told her indirectly—yet directly—that he did not welcome her attentions.
    She had cried when she’d returned to her room, and there was a lump in her throat still, as she looked at him sitting back in his chair, laughing with the other men as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
    “Are you all right, Lily?” Sophia asked, taking the empty seat beside her. Lily had not even noticed her approach.
    “Not really.”
    Sophia glanced around at the others and lowered her voice. “What happened today? We lost you on the way to the lake.”
    Lily supposed she had to tell Sophia, even though she didn’t really want to talk about it. She wanted to put it behind her.
    But this was not a new desire. She had felt this way and wanted the same thing many times over the years following many similar types of encounters with Whitby—most of them revolving around his not seeing her or flirting with other women in front of her.
    Today, it was ten times worse, for he had openly rejected her.
    “I spoke to Whitby,” she said.
    “I thought you might have. I saw him sitting on the bench. What happened?”
    “Well, we talked for a few minutes about Richard, and I tried to be flirtatious in the same way I was last night, but today he cooled instantly. It was mortifying. He wouldn’t look at me, and when I mentioned I thought it would be a good idea if he saw James’s physician—because he has a sore throat—he told me I was just like Annabelle, his sister. He was very clearly trying to tell me to stop behaving otherwise.”
    Sophia touched her hand. “Oh, Lily.”
    Lily sat up straighter in her chair, fighting to crush the urge to cry again. She