The Unexpected Wife - Jess Michaels Page 0,39

very clear how much you like him.”

Once again Celeste found herself speechless. “I—”

Abigail waved her hand. “It’s obvious, so you needn’t deny it.”

“How is it obvious?” Celeste asked, barely able to make her voice carry.

“It’s written all over your face, my dear, the moment he enters a room.”

“Oh dear,” Celeste whispered as she clenched her fists against her thighs. She wanted to find words to deny this, but she couldn’t. “What you must think of me.”

Abigail tilted her head back and laughed. “I think you are a woman, with as many desires and needs and interests as any man, even if they lie and tell us we are supposed to be behave differently than they do. Honestly, you could have chosen a worse object of affection. Mr. Gregory is very handsome.”

“I cannot deny that—it is a fact anyone can see,” Celeste breathed.

Abigail chuckled. “But he also seems kind and intelligent, even-handed. Attentive and that will always translate well into a more…intimate situation.”

“Abigail!” Celeste burst out as she leapt to her feet and paced away, as if distance could silence this untoward conversation. “I wasn’t even thinking about…about…intimate situations.”

That was a lie, of course. She had thought of such things, dreamed of his hands on her. She shivered even now at the memory.

“Why not?” Abigail said with a laugh as she got to her own feet. “I think each of us deserves a bit of fun after what Ras did.” She moved closer. “But have a care, my dear, if you do decide to pursue such an arrangement. A broken heart stings like nothing else.”

Abigail’s gaze went faraway, as if she were thinking of something personal. Something painful.

“Abigail—”

Abigail ignored her and continued, “I would hate to see you make a mistake by clinging to anything that seems solid when you’re in a vulnerable state. Protect your heart. No one else can be depended upon to do so.”

Celeste swallowed. She hadn’t dared to seek permission for the feelings, the desires Owen stoked in her. But having that permission was heady and her mind leapt to wild, wanton scenarios where she might get what she wanted for once in her life.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “It seems like a dream to even consider it.”

“We all deserve dreams,” Abigail said, and moved to the window. She glanced down at the street and then turned back toward Celeste with a smile. “And now he’s here.”

Celeste caught her breath and rushed to stand beside Abigail. Down below, one of the footmen was standing by as Owen came down from his phaeton. Owen straightened his jacket, smoothing his hands along the lines of it as he spoke to the servant for a moment.

“He does cut a fine figure,” Abigail murmured. “There is no denying that. At least you’ll have fun.”

“Fun,” Celeste responded softly. “There’s a thought.”

Owen turned his head toward the window, and Abigail caught Celeste’s arm, drawing her back as the two of them began to giggle. It felt so good to be foolish and girlish with a friend. Back in Twiddleport Celeste had always felt the odd one out. She was too bookish for some of the girls and too unaffiliated for others. But now the bond between her and Pippa and Abigail was growing. She didn’t want to lose it.

She didn’t want to lose any of it.

“Mr. Gregory,” Paisley said as he stepped into the doorway, then moved aside so Owen could enter the room.

Celeste’s face grew hot as she and Abigail both acknowledged him with a bend of their heads. He had certainly seen her in the window watching him. But he made no mention of it and merely smiled at them both.

“Ladies, good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon,” Abigail said with a very real and welcoming smile of her own. “I would offer you tea, but I hear you and Celeste are pleasure bound today.”

Celeste caught her breath and shot Abigail a look. “Abigail, you…we…”

“What sights will you see?” Abigail continued with a little look for Celeste.

Now her heart began to pound. She’d been so caught up in thinking of wicked things, she’d thought Abigail dared to speak of them right in the parlor. But of course she meant their tour of London.

“I wasn’t certain what Celeste would be in the mood for,” Owen said with a brief smile for her.

Abigail nodded. “Had you considered the British Museum? I’ve always liked their herbarium.”

“I had thought of it, madam, as I am as much a fan. Tuesday next was my plan for that.”

“Excellent. I shall be