The Winter Wish Read Online Free PDF

Sarah. The way he treats you matters. And, to be quite honest, he barely knows you are alive.”
    Sarah
flinched from the harsh truth of Lily’s words. She knew the point could have
been made with more finesse, but then such was not Lily’s way. Her friend said
what she meant and meant what she said. It was a rare quality and one that
Sarah constantly tried to emulate. Around Lily, of course, she was able to
speak her mind without stuttering over every other word. But with anyone else –
even her own family – she could not help but stammer and blush and forget
everything she truly wanted to say. Devlin had certainly been no exception.
    “You
are right,” she said softly, even though the admission cost her. “I need to
forget him.”
    “Perhaps
you should hold that thought,” Lily said, her eyes widening as she gazed over
Sarah’s right shoulder.
    “What?”
Certain she had misunderstood her friend, Sarah’s brow furrowed in bewilderment.
“Why?”
    “Because
Lord Heathcliff has just entered the ballroom… And he is looking right at you!”

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE

     
     
    Sarah’s
heart pounded. Lily had not lied. Devlin was, in fact, cutting a swath through
the dancers and it appeared as if… but no, he could not be… except that he was.
He was walking straight towards her. Hope, delicate as a bird’s wing,
fluttered faintly inside of her chest, only to plummet a few seconds later when
she realized why the Viscount would be approaching them.
    “He
must want to dance with you again,” she said, doing her best to summon a note
of excitement in her tone when she wanted nothing more than to bury her head in
her hands and cry. She had managed to sit idly by and watch her dearest friend
in the arms of the man she loved once, but she knew she would not be able to do
it again. Gathering her skirts she began to turn away, but Lily’s hand on her
arm stopped her.
    “You
ninny,” the brunette said under her breath. “He does not want to dance with me.
He is looking at you . Now wipe that dumbfounded look off your face and
smile! There you go. Very good. I will be right over there if you—”
    “Wait,”
Sarah interrupted with a gasp. Panic stricken, she clung fast to Lily’s wrist.
“You cannot leave me.”
    “Would
you have him dance with us both?” Lily gave an amused shake of her head. “You
will be fine. Obviously you must have made an impression on him if he is
purposefully seeking you out. Just do not stutter. Or be too quiet. Or talk too
much.”
    Sarah’s
throat tightened. “Lily, I—”
    “And
whatever you do,” her friend continued cheerfully, as if she did not notice
that all of the blood had drained from Sarah’s face and she was beginning to
tremble, “do not step on his feet. Best of luck to you, dear!” she called over
her shoulder as she hurried off in a swirl of ruby red skirts, leaving Sarah
with nothing more than her worried thoughts as she waited for Devlin to reach
her.
    She
studied him under her lashes while he approached with all the stealthy grace of
a panther. There was something dangerous about him. Something dark. Something
that struck a chord deep inside of Sarah, a chord that reverberated through her
entire body, thrumming like a finely tuned bow.
    When
he finally halted directly in front of her they stared at each other for
several long, drawn out moments. She noted his chin and jaw line boasted a
shadow of hair, as if he had not had time to shave before attending the ball.
He observed the long curl that had come loose from her coiffure and dangled
down the side of her neck, clinging to her skin like a sinuous serpent wound
around a willow.
    “Hello,”
he said simply.
    “Hello,”
she echoed.
    “I
had hoped you would be here,” Devlin admitted, throwing Sarah completely off
guard. She gaped speechlessly at him, unable to think of a single coherent
thing to say. He had come to Almack’s with the express purpose of finding her?
No, surely not. “Since you