Bride Enchanted Read Online Free PDF Page B

I yearn for you, you know.”
    â€œI know,” she said miserably. Because he’d finally said everything a suitor ought. Except he hadn’t said he loved her, because it would be a lie. They both knew that. He wanted her, and that was very different. She knew that too, for herself.
    â€œI’ll wait then,” he said. “Now then, my Miss Eve, you will see me tomorrow for tea?”
    She nodded.
    â€œAnd the next night, for the masquerade ball. Maybe you can learn more about me when I’m in disguise? You’re so contrary, that may turn the trick. I can’t wait to see what disguise you’ve chosen. Whatever it is, I’ll wager I’ll be your partner.”
    â€œAt the ball, yes. But maybe not in our costumes. Unless you wish it?”
    â€œOh,” he said, “I think you’ll find we will match in everything.”
    â€œYou have a spy in my house?” she asked in astonishment. “It can’t be Sherry. I didn’t tell him. But he has a way of talking the housemaids andthe footmen around anything…he didn’t!”
    â€œHe did not,” Aubrey said. “I’m gambling on how well I know you.”
    â€œWhat’s the wager to be?” she asked, hands on her hips. When they teased like this, she didn’t mistrust him.
    â€œName it.”
    â€œSo sure? This will be interesting. No material wager matters,” she said airily. “I just look forward to victory.”
    â€œThen if material doesn’t matter to you, a kiss will to me. That’s the wager. If you win, you can come to me, anywhere, anytime, and kiss me. If I do, I get to kiss you, any time, anywhere. Agreed?”
    â€œYes,” she said brightly. “There’s no way I can lose if I win.” She laughed. “And you won’t win, we won’t be a pair in our costumes. But I’ll forgive you that.”
    He laughed, took her back into his arms, kissed her speechless, and left her looking after him. She watched him go out into the night, bemused as always at how much she could want a man, and how suspicious she could be of him at the same time.
    She slowly went up the stairs to her bedchamber. She could have asked her brother or her maid to stay until Aubrey had left. But she’d wantedwhat she got, even though it turned out she didn’t get half of it. He was still a mystery to her, but a more alluring one every moment.
    Eve changed to her nightclothes, and then sat cross-legged on her bed and thought, her chin on her knees. She had a costume. She wouldn’t use it now. He’d said he’d know. Which was ridiculous. He couldn’t know. He didn’t even know what costumer she’d gone to. Still…
    She needed a new costume. A good one. This wasn’t a public masquerade, where, Sherry told her, people dressed in unlikely costumes so no one would recognize them, so they could flirt and worse with their own maidservants and footmen or their best friends’ husbands and wives. This was a top-notch affair, where people wanted to be seen in all their glory.
    She had to think of how Aubrey would want to be seen, and then dress differently, so as to win her wager. Once again, she was aware of how little she knew him. One thing she did know, she thought as she scowled—she’d be damned if he actually came up with a matching costume to hers. He said he knew her. She doubted he really did. If he did, it would be unsettling. And if he didn’t, she’d win. She loved winning.
    That would show him she was her own person, not an echo from his past. She wasn’t a copy ofanyone. If he could accept that, she might even be able to accept him. That would be wonderful, because whether she knew him well or not, deep down she knew very well that she very much wanted to say yes to him.
    A thought came to her and made her sit up straight. She shouldn’t be thinking how he’d dress. She knew that. He’d said