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

“The staff will introduce themselves to you properly tomorrow morning,” Cedric told her as he led her upstairs, then added as she turned and met his gaze, “You look tired,” 


“I am,” Anna replied softly, unable to say anything else. “It's been a long, weird day,” 


Cedric nodded in agreement, “I agree that it's been a long day. I wouldn't say it was weird, but I guess I understand why you would say that,” 


They stopped in front of a door, and he released her. The fiery part of her seemed to be absent tonight, he observed. He could still see the desire in her eyes as she looked at him, but she also looked a bit…Scared. As if she was worried about something. Was she worried that he wouldn’t keep his word and hold off their wedding night until she was ready? 


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