Chapter 14

It was the Duke’s fault, of course. All of this was his fault. If he hadn’t been the man she'd met beside the lake, the man who’d made her lose her temper and nearly slap him. If he hadn’t been that man, then none of this would have been a problem.

She would have accepted his proposal without if not a second thought, then at least a third thought. But he was that man and so she couldn’t risk it.

It’s not him that’s the issue. It’s you, she told herself.

Her jaw got even tighter and she was conscious of her father’s gaze on her, cold and disapproving. How could she explain to him what the issue was? That she was afraid of being in the Duke’s presence because twice now he’d made her forget herself? That even the touch of his hand and a glance from his relentless dark gaze made her feel shaky with anger and desperate with a hunger she didn’t understand?

Yes, it was true. It wasn’t the Duke himself she was afraid of but of his effect on her. He reminded her of ho