The Duke's Runaway Princess Page 0,38
had told me that little tid bit before I dove in that day!”
Suzanne laughed and tucked her toes underneath her, settling in for a good gossip with her glass of wine cupped in both hands and an eager expression on her face. “So you went for a swim and what happened?”
Zarah took a deep breath. “Well, I wasn’t really wearing a proper swimsuit,” she explained cautiously.
Suzanne’s face was blank for a moment, then she gasped as understanding came to her. “You were naked?”
“No!” Zarah countered. “Of course not. I had my bra and underwear on!” She actually curled her arms over her robe as if she were still at the lake that day.
The laughter from the other end of the sofa made Zarah squirm. “Honey, I’ve seen your underwear and it’s not normal. Those pieces of lace are works of art that the rest of the world can’t really afford to wear on special occasions whereas you have dozens of them for everyday use! So don’t you dare try and have that offended tone of voice with me when you say that you were still wearing your bra and underwear because that just leaves me with an image in my mind that I know no man could resist, much less the ultra macho Duke who has been totally into you since day one.”
“He hasn’t been ‘into’ me. He’s been a perfect gentleman during all of our encounters.” Okay, that was a lie, she thought to herself. She wasn’t about to admit that all that she and Derrick had done down at the lake that day. It was too embarrassing.
Suzanne could read between the lines and saw her friend’s pretty cheeks turn a lovely and revealing pink color. “Until he found you in his lake on a hot summer afternoon in your skivvies, am I understanding you correctly?”
Zarah shifted uncomfortably. “Well. Yes.”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Honey, why are you so upset about this? It sounds wonderful!”
Zarah cringed at her friend’s enthusiasm. It wasn’t wonderful, it was a disaster. A disaster that she couldn’t figure out how to avoid. “Because now he wants me to help him tonight with some dinner thing and I have no idea what the evening is about, nor why he needs me specifically. Besides, the man terrifies me.”
Suzanne stopped laughing, finally understanding the situation. “Okay, so he scares you. Why does he make you nervous?”
“Because I feel out of control around him, as if he could touch me and I’d….”
Suzanne’s grin widened and she finished the sentence for Zarah. “Become a woman for the first time?”
Zarah rolled her eyes, immediately rejecting the assertion. “Having intercourse does not initiate one into the womanhood club.”
Suzanne smiled cheekily. “No, but it certainly gives you a completely different perspective on the world and men in general.”
Zarah couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s optimism. “Okay, since I’m still not in the club, I’ll have to take your word that it’s worth the membership. I can’t do anything about it until I’m married though.”
Her friend tilted her head as she looked back. “I know you’ve said that before, but can you explain to me why you need to save yourself for the man you marry? By all accounts, you won’t like or respect the man who is chosen for you when you finally dare to return home to your extremely furious brother. Besides, your groom is not saving himself for you, I can pretty much guarantee, so why wait? It’s an old-fashioned and sexist attitude that perhaps should be re-examined.”
Zarah was sad at the idea. Suzanne was right, but there was so much more to it than she understood. “I was hoping that I would fall in love with the man I marry.”
“And have any of the previous men you’ve met sparked your appetite in any way?”
“No,” Zarah shook her head forcefully and without hesitation.
“But from what you’ve said, the Duke definitely sparks your interest, am I right?”
Zarah thought about that and had to admit that Derrick was definitely at the top of the list. “Yes, but…”
“Hear me out,” Suzanne interrupted. “There’s nothing in the laws that say a woman has to go to her marriage bed a virgin. And if you’re going to be stuck in a marriage to a man you don’t like for the rest of your life, why not at least find out what all the hype is about before the wedding with a guy that knows his way around a woman’s body?” She grinned and winked at