Page 85 of Winning Her Duke

Her time alone with Jeremy was over.

“You suddenly look quite sad. Are you well?”

“Yes. Let us focus on enjoying the race. Which appears to be ready to start.”

Before she’d said the last word, the horses were off. The thunder of hooves made the ground tremble beneath her half boots. She wished she could be one of those jockeys, but women weren’t permitted to participate in any part of horse racing. At least not officially.

When the horses were out of range, Jeremy stepped away to pace in a circle.

“Do you have a large amount wagered on this race?” she worried. Surely, he wouldn’t have risked so much on a horse running only his second race.

He shook his head. Gia couldn’t interpret if that meant too much to speak of or nothing at all.

“It isn’t about the money,” Owen said to her as Jeremy continued to pace.

The crowd had grown quiet as they waited for the first sign of the horses to reappear on the horizon. Gia focused intently, hating to so much as blink until she saw the first horse crest the hill.

“There,” she said while pointing.

“Is it him?” Jeremy asked.

“I think it is.” Though she felt it was Godspell more than saw that it was. As the pack grew closer, she was sure Godspell was in the front with Dante right behind him. She reached out to squeeze Jeremy’s forearm in an effort to keep from jumping and shouting in a most unladylike manner. “It’s him. I’m sure of it.”

With each second the horses grew closer, until they were better able to see their horse was in the lead.

“I’ll be damned. It is him,” Hale whispered. “He’s going to win.”

When Godspell crossed the finish line and was declared the winner, they merely looked at each other with wide smiles on their faces.

“You don’t know how much I wish I could kiss you and twirl you around in my arms right now,” he said quietly.

She felt the loss of such a celebration and realized it was a mere sample of what was to come when their time together was over.

She didn’t know if she would survive it.

*

It was nearly torture to be so close to Jeremy and not be able to kiss him. Not be permitted to touch his skin and pull him against her so the heat from his body warmed her own.

But they were on a dance floor with all of society watching. As such, she stiffened her spine and refrained from doing anything untoward.

“You smell delicious and I want for nothing more than to lead you away from here so I might have my way with you.”

“What is it you always say about me saying things to make you aroused, Your Grace?” She raised a brow. “I can feel you have been most unsuccessful tonight in avoiding such a situation.” She knew it wasn’t coincidence that had him brushing that part of his body against hers.

“Then let us change the subject until later tonight. Perhaps I might find myself outside your home after everyone else has gone to bed.”

“And perhaps I might need to take some air and could find you in the garden?”

“Yes, the garden. That might be a place where you would find someone while taking in the cooler evening air.”

They shared a knowing smile and she shook away the thoughts that came unbidden. Memories of his touch and the feelings he brought to the surface.

The night wore on and eventually they returned home. In her bed chamber, she waited in a chair by the window for her rendezvous with Jeremy.

When the house went still, she left her room and made her way outside to the garden where he was waiting. The silvery moonlight cast a glow upon all it touched.

His hair looked almost white as he bent to kiss her.