Love & Reputation (HC #3.5)

12: Letters To Juliet

Rosemary's hand settling in his was almost as soothing as if every other guest had been magically transported elsewhere and they were left alone without the threat of imagined sins looming over them.

Almost.

As Alex led her towards the dancefloor, the whispers in the room grew louder, reaching a crescendo at the string quartet started up the first few notes of a waltz. He wasn't sure how, but Alex was sure he would get the blame for that. Strangely, it didn't bother him enough as it should have.

Across the dancefloor, he noticed Lucas watching him and Rosemary carefully. He waited for a frown as their gazes locked, or to feel his eldest brother's censure weaving its way through the crowd that divided them. Instead that man raised his eyes to the ceiling, looked back at Alex, and shrugged. Alex could almost have sworn he was smiling.

They had reached the dancers then, giving Alex an opportunity to turn away from the confusing sight and focus his attention on Rosemary. She looked... nervous. As he watched, she raised her chin a fraction. Nervous, but determined.

The music started up in earnest, and Alex reached for her, his right hand sliding easily into place on her upper back as his left clasped his fingers in hers. She was warm, and this close it was impossible to escape the smell of her floral perfume. Not that he wanted to. He was so distracted by her, that they almost missed the first step of the dance.

He spoke to cover up his mistake. "From what I hear, my mother has been thoroughly terrorizing us both today."

A smile tugged at her lips, but it didn't win against the sage frown. "She had some wisdom to share."

"Whether you wanted to hear it or not?"

The smile finally won. "Indeed."

For a few moments, they simply danced, enjoying the easy smiles they had drawn from each other. It was simpler with the loud music and the other dancers around them to pretend that they had escaped from the watchful eyes around them.

"I've decided not to care what the Ton thinks anymore."

The unprompted statement caught her off guard, and Rosemary peered up at Alex with a soft frown. "I thought you've never care what the Ton thinks?"

It was a fair question: until recently, he had too.

"I think I thought I didn't care what they thought, but I thought a lot about what other people thought about what they..." He sighed, warmth flooding his cheeks. "...thought... Sorry, that was unintelligible." As they turned, her skirts brushing against the tips of his boots, he shook his head. "My mother's right; I'm an idiot."

Her hand moved across his shoulder, soothing him and leaving a trail of fire in her wake. "Your mother was right about a lot of things today, but perhaps not everything." She angled her chin, a wisp of auburn hair coiling across her cheek as she fought to catch his gaze. "She called me 'silly' after all."

Alex might have laughed, but he couldn't. The crinkles around her eyes and the rough edge to her voice had taken his breath away. He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that had so suddenly taken over his mind, but he couldn't. It was infuriating! Yesterday he could look at Rosemary without his mind turning to mush, but today he felt like a nervous schoolboy again. One could not grow these feelings overnight!

But then he hadn't, a voice reminded him in the back of his mind. He'd just buried them in letters she'd never understood and stamped them down until he was sure they couldn't hurt either of them. And like the stream he and his brothers had cleared, his mother had asked one simple question and now he was flooded with the feelings once more.