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

An hour later, Anna was curled up on her couch feeling sorry for herself when a knock at the door sounded. Her head snapped up. She knew without even looking out the window that it was Cedric. She seemed to be able to sense his presence. Even when she didn’t want to. 


But she couldn’t hide from him forever. She’d had a couple of days to cry and wallow in her misery. Now it was time to reclaim her life. This was her house. And she wasn’t going to give it up because she’d made the mistake of loving a man who was incapable of loving her back. It didn't matter what he said. He didn't love her… She refused to believe it because she didn't trust him. Hopefully, soon he'd get tired of staying at Haerton like he usually did, then he'd go back to the city and leave her alone. 


55