Page 39 of An Engagement with the Enemy

“Having a sworn enemy is quite childish. I should think we have grown beyond that.”

“Of course we have. Which is why your taunts turned to teasing, and your teasing turned into flirtation. Still, it didn’t seem my place to draw your attention to her good qualities when you preferred your relationship with her to remain antagonistic rather than friendly.”

James swallowed, then forced a laugh. “Flirtation? I have never flirted with Jessica.”

“Oh, please, spare me that denial.” Leo chuckled and his head lolled to the side the better to cast a narrow-eyed glare at his cousin. “You flirted like a clumsy boy of fifteen, despite being a decade past that awkward age. But you do flirt with her.”

With both hands on the table, James leaned forward and closed his eyes. “I never thought of it that way. It’s been a dance of words and wits, challenging each other and pushing to best one another in debates. But it always remained something light and enjoyable. At least for me. It was safe. Familiar.”

“Was?” Leo lowered his hands to the arm rests and sat forward. “Has something happened in the weeks I have been away?”

A dry, humorless laugh was the only sound that escaped James’s lips. What did he say? How did he explain to his friend what he had barely comprehended himself a scant few hours before? “I may be an idiot.”

“I have never presumed otherwise.”

James looked fully over his shoulder at his cousin and raised his eyebrows. “Your support in this moment is too kind, Leo.”

With a wide grin, Leo gave an unapologetic shrug. “I aim to please. Now. Tell me how you came to the conclusion that you aren’t as clever as you thought. And what Jessica Westcote has to do with it. In fact, begin there. Tell me, what is your perception of that lady? I sense she is at the heart of the matter here.”

Pushing away from the table, James paced to the edge of the carpet, near the door. Then turned and walked back to the stained glass. “My perception of her? Fine. I can do that.” He took a deep breath and began the route again, back to the door, speaking as he went and not looking at Leo in an effort to keep his thoughts clear. “Jessica is remarkable. She’s a spirited woman with a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue.” He winced. “That sounds like a criticism, but it isn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Leo sounded perfectly at ease. James risked a glance at his closest friend to find the man watching him with a blank expression. Giving away nothing.

What did he mean? Sorting through his thoughts, James paced more as he answered.

“In her company, I’ve never been bored. Quite the contrary. She makes every conversation lively, every debate engaging, and every moment vibrant.”

“Vibrant?” Leo sounded skeptical. “That isn’t a word I’ve heard you use to describe her in the past. Loud. Sharp. Discerning.” He ticked each of those descriptive words off on one hand as James continued his march across the carpet. “Abrupt. Cutting. Challenging.”

“She is all those things, too.” James stopped in the middle of the room. “Her ability to challenge me and make me reconsider my own viewpoints is a trait I’ve admired. But there is more to her than that. Her strength, her resilience, her courage to stand her ground when other ladies demure or stay on safer topics of conversation—I admire all of those things. It’s the spark in her eyes, her vivacity, her unabashed honesty.”

Leo moved forward on his seat as he listened, settling his elbows on his knees and staring at James with that careful expression that gave nothing away. “Compliments indeed. Very well. I accept that you are no longer censuring her as I had supposed. Indeed, you two have always had a unique bond. For lack of a better word.”

James chuckled, dropping his gaze to the carpet as he ran a hand through his hair. “Antagonists may have suited us better. Rivals of wit.”

“But something has changed?” Leo prompted, and when James glanced at him, he saw a light in his friend’s eye that ought to have made him nervous. Leo wasn’t the trickster James was, but he had a sharp intellect and an appreciation for strategy that had made him an invaluable partner in all of James’s childhood exploits. And beyond.

Leo knew more than he let on. And he was steering James toward an admission James hadn’t been ready to make. Not alone, to himself.

“We have called a truce, of sorts.” James looked down at the carpet. “Become allies.”

The other man scoffed. “Those are words for men at war and children playing soldiers. Not for a gentleman and a lady.”

James tightened his jaw in an effort to stop himself from saying more. Saying things that he wouldn’t be able to take back. Saying anything to Leo, though his friend would keep their conversation in confidence, would be an admission he’d be incapable of hiding from himself again.

He thought of Jessica, kneeling beside him in the shadows of the tree, her fingers delicately twisted in his hair. She had been so close to him that he had easily taken in the gentle scent of vanilla and sun-warmed linen from her gown. He’d even felt the breath of her words as she’d spoken.

He closed his eyes. “Why do others not see how beautiful she is?”

The silence following his question made James’s skin prickle.

“I beg your pardon. I couldn’t possibly have heard what I thought I did. What did you say?”

“She’s beautiful.” He opened his eyes and looked at Leo, feeling like an idiot again. “But I’ve heard her tell Catherine that she isn’t. She doesn’t believe she is. Because she’s tall, or thin, or what-have-you. Yet, I’ve thought her lovely for years.”

Leo’s mouth fell open. “You’ve never given any reason for me, let alone her, to think that.”

James winced. “I suppose not.”