The Wedding Affair (Rebel Hearts series Book 1) by Heather Boyd Page A

every nook and cranny of every room. The doors to the pretty morning room were open, and he had a full view of what looked to be a ladies’ sanctuary. The feminine room was currently unoccupied, but scattered pillows made from blue and red Indian silk rested on the long chaise for the ladies’ comfort, and rugs made of the finest quality were scattered beneath.
    He tore his gaze away when he imagined Sally in the space.
    Sally herself sat as far away as it was possible to be at the breakfast table, looking lovelier in lemon muslin than his mind could accept was still possible. But her posture was rigid with barely concealed tension. He dropped his eyes, and his attention caught on a dark feline moving into the room. The dark-as-soot cat stopped and sniffed around the polished floorboards near the table, obviously looking for tidbits to scavenge for its breakfast. It hissed at those gathered with ill-concealed contempt and especially whenever a servant’s foot came its way. Had the duke mentioned Sally keeping cats yesterday?
    Sally lifted her gaze along the table, and their eyes met again. His heartbeat quickened as he remembered her fiery outburst last night, but she soon looked away and gave her attention to Ellicott. Demure, polite, and so different from the woman he had fallen in love with that he had trouble reconciling that the two could be the same female. She hardly ever smiled.
    At least last night she had been passionate, even if the emotion was anger. In fact, he had almost leaned down to kiss her. He had always enjoyed her private outbursts of temper and did not know where he had found the strength to hold back his attraction.
    “Does something amuse you, Captain?”
    He met the curious stare of Louisa Ford and tipped his head. “Yes. The cat.”
    “That is Sally’s wild one, Horace. He cannot stand to be held and will scratch if you try to pet him.”
    “I will make sure to avoid the surly fellow.” He set aside his empty cup.
    “Oh, he is not surly, he just likes to do as he pleases.” She laughed and glanced down. “Do you like cats, Captain?”
    “I do not dislike them.” He smiled, deciding that Louisa was very much like Sally. Certainly pretty, direct too, but she had a slight hesitance in her bearing that Sally had lacked when they first met.
    Before he could say anything else, Louisa bent down to pick up a tiny mottled ball of fluff that had been previously hidden from view by the folds of her skirts. “This is Arturo.”
    “Charming,” he murmured before reaching out to scratch the small head with his fingertips. The cat licked at his fingers, then bit him. “He is quite small and just a bit ferocious for his size, is he not?”
    “He is Sally’s newest and is always hungry.” Louisa collected her plate, which he noticed held finely chopped scraps of her breakfast, and slipped from the room to the terrace outside. When she stopped at the balustrade, Felix decided to join her in the sun.
    Louisa smiled as he walked over. “He had a terrible start in life. Sally rescued him from a dog in the village and brought him home in her pocket to live with her others. The hunting dogs do not bother any of them, I am happy to report. In fact, I think they are a bit afraid of being scratched.”
    She fed the cat from her own hand and, when the animal had fed enough, placed him gently on the flagstone pavement. He scampered away into the low shrubbery.
    “He is a lucky fellow then to have found a place to belong.” Felix glanced around once more. Unlike the stray cats Sally took in, Felix did not belong here. “Some of us never do.”
    He had to end his obsession with Sally before he made a complete fool of himself. Louisa appeared startled by his remark, so he shrugged.
    Revealing how much he had longed for Sally during the past six years would do him no good. Her love was gone, and it was high time he accepted it for a fact and got back to his real life as captain of the Selfridge . “Would