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Like she’d bitten into a ripe blackberry and the juice stained her lips.
Sweet and tart.
As she talked, I became slowly aware of the feeling Daphne had been looking for when she laid her palm on my chest. A tightness beneath my ribs. A little ache where my calloused heart beat fast.
Does it hurt when you look at her?
Yes, yes it did.
CHAPTER TEN
CLARA
Osian picked me up at eight the day he’d promised to take me to the cinema. Despite pretending all week that I was looking forward to it, I had mixed feelings about the date.
He’d been so handsy during our first meeting, and that had been with his parents and Merrick in the same room. I was dreading how it would be when he got me alone in his car.
It was stupid, people went out on dates alone all the time.
It took me almost an hour just to pick an outfit that didn’t feel like I was showing too much skin. I finally decided on a vintage style sweater, cropped jeans, and sneakers. I finished it off with a touch of lipstick, but no jewelry.
Turning in the mirror, I looked myself over. Good, it was conservative, but pretty.
Merrick was in the kitchen on his laptop, working quietly, when Osian arrived. I could tell he was dying to walk into the hallway and rake Osian over with that death glare.
“Please, be good,” I’d begged him earlier. “I think he’s terrified of you.”
“Good,” said Merrick. “I hope he pisses his pants.”
He didn’t look up from his computer to see me roll my eyes and flounce out of the room.
Osian walked into the hall, looking rich and careless in his expensive clothes. The curl over his eyebrow was in top form tonight. He probably used gel to work it into that perfect shape so it would hang just right.
The idea of him fussing with his hair tickled me.
He bent, cradling my elbow, and kissed my cheek. It didn’t feel intrusive as I’d expected…it just felt normal. Like I was a regular girl going out on a regular date with a nice guy.
My stomach did a little flip. It was a new experience being touched by a man.
“Is Merrick here?” he asked stiffly.
“Um…yeah,” I said. “Did you want to talk to him?”
Osian gave a quick nod. I hesitated, but he didn’t explain, so I went to the kitchen. Merrick glanced up, stretched his long legs out and cracked his neck.
“I thought you were leaving,” he said.
“Osian wants to speak with you first,” I said.
His jaw worked, but he didn’t say anything, he just walked past me into the front hall. I came around the corner and they both looked at me and then at each other.
“Do you mind to wait in your room, Clara?” Merrick said.
He had his stern face on, the vaguely paternal one. A hint of rebellion rose in me and I stalled, frowning.
Osian was going to be my fiancé next year and Merrick was my guardian. Whatever they were discussing likely had to do with me and I hated that they didn’t consider me serious enough to be included.
“Clara,” said Merrick.
