My Merry Marquess (Wallflower's Christmas Wish #3) - Annabelle Anders Page 0,30

reared its head, betrayal quickly followed?

Nick climbed the stairs and formulated some sort of argument that Dash might be willing to hear. From the crashing sounds behind the closed door of room number one, he knew it would have to be a good one. “Dash, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. If you’ve come to convince me to stay, you can save your breath.”

“But I have so much of it, you see, why would I want to save it?” He didn’t wait for an invitation but entered anyway. “You should know that by now.”

Dash only scowled at him. “Did no one bother teaching you when to leave well enough alone?”

Ironic, that. The truth of it was that he’d learned just the opposite.

“Oh, certainly.” Nick tossed himself onto the bed, lacing his hands behind his head that he propped against the wall. “And as your friend, I’ve come to the conclusion that now is not the time for me to leave anything alone. This is most decidedly the time for me to talk.”

“If you don’t get out--” Dash’s nostril’s flared, suddenly reminding Nick of his horse just before she’d bolted. He didn’t suppose this would be a good time to point that out to the tormented duke.

“Easy.” Nick held out his hands. Perhaps he was going about this wrong. “I wouldn’t want to have to beat you senseless after the day you’ve had.” Although that might be an improvement on the duke’s state of mind.

An alert pause suggested that his friend was considering just that. Dash actually seemed to be listening to Nick now.

“Perhaps we should take this outside.” Dash already had his fists clenched.

“Another time.” Nick inhaled. This wasn’t something he’d intended to share with anyone, but he figured it was his only shot. “Right now, we’re going to discuss a particularly pesky four-letter word.”

“Which one?” Dash might as well be foaming at the mouth. “What a pile of absolute shit you are? Or how I’m going to f—”

“Not that one, you ass.” Nick sat up then, swinging his legs back over the bed and resting his elbows on his knees. “I meant love.”

“No.” Dash began pacing. “I owed her a boon, and we made an arrangement. That is all.”

“I heard you say it, man.” Nick swallowed hard, remembering when he’d told Eve. “I heard you utter the word love. So, don’t bother denying it now. The sooner we start discussing the truth, the more productive this conversation will be.”

“What do you know about anything?” Nick would have laughed at the absurdity of this situation if there wasn’t so much at stake.

“I know when a man is about to make the worst mistake of his life.”

“You don’t know that.”

Nick just stared at him. For having been friends for such a damned long time, they knew nothing of one another’s personal affairs—affairs of the heart, that was. “I know plenty. You know my trip to France?”

“What about it?”

“I was running from love too.” The instant the words left his mouth, he realized how true they were. He could have gone after Eve but instead, he’d given up. “Worst mistake of my life. I hurt her. I hurt me.” Nick scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Don’t do this. Don’t leave. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“You don’t understand anything. Not really.” Dash slammed the lid of his trunk closed. “I am not a man meant for happiness. I don’t get a happily ever after.”

“You’re wrong.” Of course, his blasted friend deserved a happily ever after—as did Noelle. Hell, even Jack deserved one.

But most of all, Eve deserved one, and Nick was going to make damn sure that happened. He only hoped it included him. “She loves you too. That’s why your betrayal hurt her so damned much.” As he spoke the words, he knew deep in his soul that Eve wouldn’t have been so hurt if she hadn’t loved him. She may not have said the words back, but she loved him.

Nick glared at Dash, willing him to listen.

“Stay and prove you’re not that man, Dash. Don’t run.”

His idiotic friend shuddered, looking at the floor. “I’m not the man you think I am.”

“You are.” Nick had to clench his hands at his sides to keep from strangling the dolt of a duke.

But a knock interrupted the conversation as Jack entered the room. “The sleigh is ready.”

Nick was convincing himself far better than he’d managed to change Dash’s mind. “We’re not done talking.”

“We’re done.” Dash set his jaw and flicked