The Duke's Wife (The Three Mrs #3) - Jess Michaels Page 0,3
that he blamed her for the reaction. Her married name was a harsh reminder of the feckless man who had given it to her. Destroyed her and a good many others in his wake.
“Gilmore,” she said through clenched teeth. “What do you want?”
He choked back a laugh at her directness. Funny how a person could grate and entertain in equal measure. “Why, just your fine company, madam.”
She arched a brow at him and shook her head slowly. “Try again.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “You are the only person I know even slightly at this gathering beyond our hosts and the Gregorys, and they seem busy at present.”
He motioned with his chin and she followed the gesture. Owen and Celeste were by the fire, heads close together. Celeste was smiling at whatever he was saying, the tiniest blush darkening her cheeks. When Nathan glanced at Abigail, her own cheeks had gone pink, as if she knew exactly the words being exchanged between the couple.
He let his glance slide to Leighton and Pippa, and she followed his eyes again. They were also close together, but unlike the Gregorys, their conversation didn’t look pleasant. Pippa’s cheeks were pale and Rhys frowned as they surveyed the room together.
“She’s worried,” Abigail said, and Nathan almost didn’t recognize her voice. Normally it was sharp with barbs for him, but now it was soft, filled with concern. “And she should be. I know they hoped for better attendance.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She pursed her lips. “That is all you have to say? Yes?”
He turned partially toward her. “Is there something more you think I should say, Mrs. Montgomery?”
She threw up her hands. “Rhys is supposed to be one of your best friends—”
“He is my best friend,” he interrupted softly.
She ignored him and continued on as if he hadn’t spoken. “—and yet you address his situation as though you are commenting on the weather or the state of the roads. But then what else is there to expect? You do not seem to have emotions, so why would you show them?”
The emotion she claimed he didn’t feel rose up inside of him, but he did as he always did, always had, and shoved it down deeper, where it would not control his words or actions. “You think that me moaning about his troubles, gnashing my teeth and wailing in his parlor, will help my friend? I think you’re too intelligent a person to truly believe that. You only say it to get a rise out of me, as is your sport.”
They stared at each other a moment, too long a moment, and finally she folded her arms, huffed out a breath and broke the eye contact. “Of course it isn’t my sport. That implies I think of you, and I assure you that I do not.”
“Of course not,” he said. “Nor do I think of you.”
Her gaze darted to his, and he thought he sensed a hint of disappointment hidden in the deep brown depths. But it couldn’t have really been there. Abigail hated him, though he wasn’t entirely sure of why that was. She glanced away again, and for a moment they stood silently.
“So what is?” he asked.
She huffed out a breath. “What is what?”
“You said getting a rise out of me isn’t your sport, despite your being very good at it. So what is your game?”
She arched a brow. “Just because you are always playing a game doesn’t mean everyone else is, Your Grace.”
He chuckled, and her lips pressed tighter. “Of course I don’t think everyone else is. I think you are. You and I may not be the best of friends”—she snorted—“but we’ve been forced into each other’s paths off and on for nearly a year now, so I’ve been compelled to make a study of you.”
“I don’t like that idea,” she said.
He shrugged. “And yet here we are.”
“And you think I’m playing games?”
He turned to face her a little more directly and held her gaze. “I think you like games. I think you’re clever enough to get bored when you aren’t playing one, even if it’s only in your head. And I think…no, I know, you like to win.”
Her gaze narrowed further. “If you think so little of me, then I wonder why you came over here. Was it only to insult me?”
“Why would what I said be an insult?” he asked. “I like to win, too.”
“And you are allowed that desire. It is valued in a man. Women are not sometimes given such ability.”