The Duke was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted to one side. It was a relaxed, casual pose, and yet the way he looked at her was anything but casual. The deep midnight of his eyes burned and he radiated a subtle, sensual energy that made the air around him crackle. 

He looked like a man who’d never heard the word ‘no’ in all his life. Unluckily for him, ‘no’ was the only word she had.

“There's no reason why I should stay,” Anna clasped her shaking hands together in an effort to still them. “I’m not marrying you.”

His gaze flickered, his mouth curving slightly, and she had the disturbing thought that far from putting him off, her insistence was only inciting him further.
“But you haven’t heard my proposal yet,” he said mildly. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“I don’t need to hear it. I already know that my answer will be no.”

“Of course. But you can hardly tell your father that you heard me out when you haven’t, in fact, heard me out…. Anna.” 



A LADY FOR A DUKE

He also wanted to discuss it with her, suggesting she join him in the city at her earliest convenience. She didn’t particularly want to discuss it with him, since she didn’t much care about the wedding itself, but, as refusing to go just because she found his presence threatening would be admitting far too much, and her father now had a full-time caregiver, she felt she had no choice but to agree. 


And so a few days later she found herself on a helicopter, a building nervousness along with a strange sense of anticipation collecting inside of her. She tried to ignore both sensations by watching the unrolling green of the countryside below her and attempting to enjoy the novelty of flying, since she’d never been in any kind of aircraft before, let alone a helicopter. 


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