An Honorable Wish (A Lady's Wish 2) by Eileen Richards

what was wrong. He’d just get to the point. “What have I done now?”
    She turned to him. “We need to get home, Tony.”
    “Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
    “You’ve done nothing. May we go now?”
    He hung his head. Juliet Townsend was going to drive him completely insane. “Is this about what almost happened in the barn?”
    He watched the color flame in her cheeks.
    “What do you mean?” Her voice was cold. “Nothing happened in the barn.”
    He moved closer to her. “You wanted me to kiss you.”
    “I did not.”
    Tony chuckled. “You think I cannot tell? Your breathing became erratic. Your pulse was racing. You kept licking your lips.”
    “I do not wish to discuss it.”
    He forced her head to face him. He wanted to see her eyes. “Juliet, my intentions are honorable.”
    She pulled in a breath and held it. He watched her for any reaction. She wouldn’t look at him. “Did you hear what I said?”
    She let out the breath she was holding. “Your voice was quite clear.”
    “And?” He winced at the impatience in his tone. Damn it. He was putting his heart out there and she wasn’t reacting the way he thought she should. She should be happy—shouldn’t she?
    Juliet turned her head and met his gaze. “I’m confused. Why me? Why now?”
    What the hell was she talking about? “I don’t understand.”
    “Honestly, Tony. I am bookish. I wear spectacles. I do not dance well. I cannot engage in small talk. I am too thin. Why would you select me, especially when you could have Sophia?”
    He looked down at his hands again. He could feel the trap closing around him. What was it about women that they twisted everything into an attempt to get compliments? “Juliet, you know that Sophia and I would never suit.”
    She glared at him. “I do not understand you. Of all the words I said, you focused on Sophia.” She faced forward, her lips tightening. “I would like to go home.”
    “As you wish.” Women were so strange. How was a simple man supposed to understand how their minds worked?
    He went back over what she had said. Bookish. Yes, he got that, but he didn’t mind. Juliet had the capability to learn anything by reading. It was a skill he wished he had. She didn’t dance well, but he hated dancing, so that wasn’t a problem. He hated small talk.
    Too thin? Her old faded dress did little to emphasize her slight curves, but he remembered how she looked his first day back in Beetham. The current fashion might not play to her curves, but she had them. To him she was fine-boned, with curves in the right places. “Believe me when I say this: there is nothing wrong with your looks. I like your looks.”
    Juliet gaped at him.
    “That’s what you wanted to hear, yes?”
    “Tony, you cannot arrive home and start acting like some lovesick fool within a few days of being here. It doesn’t make sense.”
    “What about my being attracted to you doesn’t make sense, Jules?”
    ” Why now?” she cried. “You barely paid attention to me in London.”
    He frowned at her. “I’ve always liked you, Jules.”
    “As a sister.”
    “Never as a sister. Ever. Let us look at the evidence. While in Town, I was at every single ball you attended. I danced one dance with you. I may have danced once or twice with Sophia, but I only waltzed with you.”
    “Those were pity dances,” she sputtered. “You felt sorry for me for being stuck on the wallflower wall.”
    “I don’t pity dance,” Tony growled. “I danced with you because I wanted to.”
    The look on Juliet’s face would have been comical if Tony wasn’t so twisted over his feelings for her.
    “You could have any woman you want,” she whispered. Clearly she wasn’t aware of her own appeal. “Rumors of your mistresses are legendary.”
    Tony wondered how she’d react to the truth. His way of handling mistresses was different. They were paid for being on his arm and for their silence. He’d never made love with any of them. They were