The Unexpected Wife
Page 24
Gilmore rolled his eyes. “Well, that’s never stopped me.”
Despite everything, Rhys couldn’t help but smile at the quip. He relaxed a fraction. “No, I suppose it hasn’t. And since you will do as you like without a thought for me, then go ahead and give them, but know I’ll ignore them.”
Gilmore snorted but his demeanor quickly became more serious. “Rhys,” he began, and Rhys stiffened at the use of his given name. They never called each other by anything but their titles, not since they were in short pants. It gave a gravity to the situation that only piled up on everything else. “She is fascinating.”
Rhys wrinkled his brow. He hadn’t expected that to be what his friend said. Fascinating. Yes, that was the way to describe Phillipa, and a slash of jealousy was his immediate response. One he shoved down as hard and as fast as he could.
“Indeed,” he said because Gilmore seemed to be waiting some kind of answer to his statement.
The duke edged a little closer. “But if you are interested in her, and I say if even though I know there isn’t an if about it…it could be bad.”
The first reaction that hit Rhys in the chest was a strong desire to shove Gilmore away from him. Like distance would make what he said less true. That somehow he could erase this moment and pretend it hadn’t happened.
But once that sudden and violent sensation passed, a more metered response settled into his chest. Gilmore wasn’t wrong. An interest in Phillipa would be…bad. It was bad. There was nothing to do but fight it. Deny it to others and to himself until it went away. It had to go away.
He cleared his throat. “I am only interested in making things right for her and for the boy.”
Gilmore lifted his brows. “So you say.”
Rhys glared at him. “I am!” he snapped, with far more heat than the benign response warranted.
Gilmore raised his hands in surrender. “So you say,” he repeated.
Rhys let his hand tighten on the half-full flute of champagne still gripped in his hand and drew a long breath. “And what about you?” he asked.
He noted that Gilmore’s gaze slid back across the room to where Abigail Montgomery now stood alone. It flicked over her and his mouth tightened, for everyone knew the two despised each other.
“I am only an interested observer,” he grunted. “There is nothing else for me here.”
Rhys arched a brow, because he wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Then he lifted his glass. “Then we are the same. Nothing of interest for us in the house of cards my brother built. So let us toast to the happy couple.”
Gilmore clinked his glass without looking at him. “To the happy couple,” he grumbled.
And they both drank without smiling, lost in thoughts of ladies who were out of reach by circumstance, by design, by whatever power made things impossible.
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Also by Jess Michaels
The Three Mrs
The Unexpected Wife
The Defiant Wife
The Duke’s Wife
* * *
The Duke’s By-Blows
The Love of a Libertine
The Heart of a Hellion
The Matter of a Marquess
The Redemption of a Rogue
* * *
The 1797 Club
The Daring Duke
Her Favorite Duke
The Broken Duke
The Silent Duke
The Duke of Nothing
The Undercover Duke
The Duke of Hearts
The Duke Who Lied
The Duke of Desire
The Last Duke
* * *
The Scandal Sheet
The Return of Lady Jane
Stealing the Duke
Lady No Says Yes
My Fair Viscount
Guarding the Countess
The House of Pleasure
* * *
Seasons
An Affair in Winter
A Spring Deception
One Summer of Surrender
Adored in Autumn
* * *
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden
Deceived
Tempted
Ruined
Seduced
Fascinated
* * *
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke
The Scoundrel’s Lover
The Widow Wager
No Gentleman for Georgina
A Marquis for Mary
To see a complete listing of Jess Michaels’ titles, please visit:
http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/books
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and lives in the heart of Dallas, TX where she's trying to eat all the amazing food in the city.
When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).
Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her at Jess@AuthorJessMichaels.com.
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