A Duke to Remember (A Season for Scandal Book 2) by Kelly Bowen Page A

around her, accompanied by a subtle concert provided by a host of bees and birds. “It’s…” She paused, thinking beautiful seemed inadequate. “Exquisite.”
    He was silent, though Elise could feel his eyes on her.
    “I think perhaps I should like to sleep out here tonight,” she said softly. “Amid all this perfection.”
    He chuckled, a deep, rich sound. “Mrs. Pritchard would have a fit if I let you sleep out here,” he told her. He paused, his laughter fading. “But thank you. Perhaps after dinner I could show you the rest.”
    Elise took a deep breath. She should not be complimenting him. She could not be standing in his rose garden, discussing things that would never come to pass. She would not be touring his gardens after dinner. She should be having a very frank conversation with him that she very much doubted he would want to participate in. This was pointless, this subtle but deliberate probing. She could beat around the bush forever, poking and jabbing randomly at the periphery, hoping that something useful would emerge. And in the meantime the Duchess of Ashland would be dead, and Francis Ellery would have inherited a fortune.
    The better course of action was to simply tell him the truth. Did she really think that if she confronted Noah he would run? And if he did, then he was not the man she needed him to be anyway. Not the man his sister needed him to be. And there was nothing that Elise could do to fix that, no matter how much she might wish otherwise.
    If the worst happened, Elise would be better off cutting her losses and returning to London to start exploring other options.
    And really, the rose garden was as good a place as any. “Mr. Lawson,” she started, unsure how to phrase what she had to say, but knowing she needed to say it.
    Noah reached past her and selected one of the blooms, neatly snapping the stem. He held it out to her with a soft smile. “For you, my lady.”
    Elise thought she might never remember how to draw a full breath again. “For what?”
    “For being you.”
    No man had ever given her a rose for simply being herself. And certainly not while standing in a magical garden bathed in golden sunlight. All thoughts of London slipped away, and she was overcome by such longing that it robbed her of whatever wits she had left.
    Very slowly she reached out to accept the rose, her fingers brushing his. Neither made a move to pull away. She ventured a glance up at his face, and the possessive look she saw reflected in his eyes made everything around her fade to nothing. In that moment she couldn’t remember where she was, or what she was doing there. Couldn’t remember why it was impossible for her to reach out and touch him, or simply step forward and kiss him.
    “Heavens, Mr. Lawson, but I was starting to think you’d been kidnapped by faerie folk— Oh my.” The sound of a door banging and the abrupt end of a sentence had Elise whirling in alarm.
    A woman was standing frozen just at the front of the house, a cloth dangling from her fingers unheeded. Her brown eyes were opened in shocked surprise, wisps of silver hair falling around her flushed face.
    Noah retreated hastily, his hand dropping from Elise’s. “My apologies for the lateness of the hour, Mrs. Pritchard,” he said, adjusting the pack on his shoulder and heading toward his housekeeper.
    Mrs. Pritchard’s gaze flew to Noah, then to Elise, and back.
    “May I introduce Miss DeVries,” Noah said as he gave the older woman a quick kiss on the cheek. “Miss DeVries, this is Mrs. Pritchard.”
    The expression on Mrs. Pritchard’s face was one of stunned astonishment.
    “A pleasure to meet you.” Elise spoke up, trying her best to inject warmth and normalcy into her words. As if she hadn’t just been caught in a rose garden, dressed in wet trousers, a breath away from kissing a man she should never kiss.
    Mrs. Pritchard blinked at her, as if believing her to be real for the first time. “And you,” she