How to Turn a Frog into a Prince - Bree Wolf Page 0,51

to the other. “Nice try.”

The girls’ shoulders slumped. “Come,” Daphne said to Susan, “we’ll fetch Mary. She should be awake by now.” She glanced up at Nathanial. “She was sick and needed a lot of bed rest, but I think she’s starting to feel better.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Nathanial replied. “Do give her my best for a speedy recovery.”

Daphne nodded eagerly, a small smile once again tugging on her lips. “I will.” And with that, the girls once more raced off.

Nathanial stared after them, oddly entranced by the idyllic moment he had just experienced.

“They missed you,” Charlaine said beside him, and her hand came to rest gently upon his arm. “As did I.”

Nathanial turned to look at her, and he knew that somehow she understood what this moment meant to him. “I’ve missed you as well,” he whispered. “More than I thought I would.”

Feigned annoyance came to Charlaine’s face as she narrowed her eyes at him. “You are indeed a master at bestowing compliments, good sir. Can I assume it is an ability you hone daily through hours of practice?”

Nathanial chuckled. “Indeed, some days, it is all I do. I sit in a corner, thinking of nothing but what eloquent words to use in order to see a lady smile.”

“How unfortunate!” she moaned. “And here, I’d hoped to secure your assistance in a most urgent matter.”

Nathanial paused, wondering if she was jesting or if there was a hint of truthfulness in her tone. “What project?”

Charlaine sighed rather theatrically. “Oh, it is a most important one! Unlike any you’ve ever heard of.”

Nathanial grinned, crossing his arms as he looked at her. “Is that so? Do you care to elaborate?”

With a most serious expression upon her face, Charlaine cast a wary look around them as though fearing that someone might overhear. Then she stepped closer, her hand once more settling on his arm, before she pushed herself up onto her toes and whispered in his ear, “I have encountered a most terrifying enemy.”

Nathanial frowned, a hint of unease crawling up his spine. “An enemy? What do you mean?”

Her warm breath once more tickled his skin. “It is most unsettling.”

“It?”

She pulled back, then met his gaze and nodded.

“What…is it?” Nathanial asked slowly, getting the sense that he was walking right into a trap.

Indeed, in the next moment a teasing smile lit up her face. “Boredom.”

Unable to hide his smile, Nathanial briefly closed his eyes. “For a moment, you had me worried,” he admitted.

Charlaine laughed. “You looked so serious. I couldn’t resist.”

“I’ve never seen you bored,” Nathanial remarked, envious of that cheerfulness that seemed to be innate to her.

“I’m never for long,” she confirmed. “However, at times, defeating that particular enemy does pose a challenge.” She looped her arm through his and pulled him toward the curved stairs leading up to the front door. “Now that you’re here, though, I have no doubt that, together, we shall defeat it.” She smiled up at him. “Will you have my back?”

“Always,” Nathanial replied, and he meant it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Of Frogs & Princes

Charlaine had not missed the joy lighting up Nathanial’s eyes upon his arrival. She had sensed his loneliness, the hesitant way his heart had begun to open, to long for companionship, for joy, for someone to stand beside him. His brother had always been that person, but now things had changed and it seemed Nathanial was at a loss as to how to adapt.

However, that was what friends were for, were they not? To lend a helping hand when it was most needed.

“Should I not greet Lord Markham and his wife?” Nathanial asked as she led him through the house, giving him a quick tour so the poor man would not get lost too often. “After all, it was very kind of them to invite me. Are you certain they do not mind me staying for such a long time?”

Charlaine marveled at his constant concern to overstay his welcome. “We’re on our way to see them,” she told him, her watchful eyes lingering on that occasionally twitching muscle in his jaw. “However, it was I who invited you, not them. So, if there’s anyone you want to thank,” she grinned up at him, “it is me.”

Nathanial’s gaze narrowed as he regarded her. “But you did ask them, did you not?” Concern clung to his voice.

Charlaine sighed. “You sound like Pierce. He made me promise I—” She bit her lip, realizing that she was about to say more than she had intended to.

Nathanial stopped and turned

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