A Lady unlike any other (four hoydens #1)

Chapter 12

As soon as Rosalyn entered her home, the butler informed her that her brother wanted to speak with her.

Uh oh.

She knocked on his door, not bothering to change. Chances were, Ralph already knew where she'd been.

"Come in," came his tired voice.

He sat by the fire place with a glass in his hand, looking gaunt. This worried her. Rosalyn had never seen her brother this way.

"Is everything alright, Ralph?" she kneeled down by his feet, looked up at his face expectantly.

"Where did I go wrong, Rosa?" he asked, his voice full of emotion.

"What do you mean Ralph?"

"Why do you keep running off? Why do you keep putting yourself in danger?"

Oh.

"Ralph...you need to understand. I'm not made for the ton. I try to fit in, I really do. But I need some freedom. You've not gone wrong in anyway, this is just the way I am."

"Really? There are times when I think you choose to do this because of something else..."

"What?" she murmured.

"Maybe because you miss mother and father. Maybe because the love I gave you wasn't enough somehow or maybe I made a mistake by giving you too much freedom," he said weakly.

"Oh Ralph, you couldn't have been more wrong," she said vehemently. Rosalyn was shocked that Ralph thought this.

He looked so forlorn and sad, she couldn't bear to see it. And she had caused this.

She slowly pulled the tumbler from his hand and placed it on the table.

Looking into his blue eyes, so much like hers, she spoke, "Ralph, there hasn't been a day when I missed mother and father. I loved them, I still do. And there are times when I wish they were here, so they could see how both of us turned out to be. But I never miss them. You know why?"

He slowly shook his head, bewildered.

"It's because you've never given me the reason to. From the day they died, you've been more than just a brother to me, Ralph. You've nurtured me and given me so much love. I know about all the sacrifices you've made for me..."

He began to deny it, so Rosalyn held up her hand.

"I know everything. Why haven't you married?" she asked him.

"I've just not found the right woman," he shrugged noncommittally.

"You say you haven't met the right woman?" she asked, trying a different approach.

"Yes."

"What about Alice?"

His mouth dropped open.

Ha! She knew it.

"What about her?" He asked, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably.

"I know you have feelings for her, Ralph."

"She's your friend and that's about it. Why? Did she say anything?" He asked and Rosalyn heard the hope in his voice.

Oh Ralph.

"She hasn't said anything. But you do realise that she's going to get married one day, do you not?"

"Of course."

"Can you see that happen? Her getting married to another man, belonging to someone else?"

She saw his hand tighten on the armrest but he said nothing, his jaw taut.

"Answer me Ralph. Can you watch her fall in love with another?"

He stood up in a flash, knocking down the tumbler.

She sat back on her heels, satisfied.

"What a stubborn little thing you are, Rosa. I called you here to talk about your errant ways and somehow we ended up with you trying to convince me that I have feelings for Alice," he chuckled.

She only shrugged.

He left then, effectively ending their conversation.

Rosalyn sat down on the armchair her brother had just vacated with a sigh.

Ralph hadn't admitted anything, but he'd at least shown some reaction.

She felt quite proud of herself.

But as she sat there thinking about the day, Lord Fortescue's words kept echoing in her mind.

"Yes, mine," he had said. She didn't know why she kept thinking about it. Maybe it had something to do with his intensity today. She'd seen a different side of him today.

At first, she'd thought he was arrogant. At the ball she'd thought he was funny and charming. And today, she saw how fierce and ardent he could be.

She hadn't admitted it to him, but he'd was the first man to have ever kissed her. Rosalyn didn't know why she lied to him. But she didn't want him to think that she was a country bumpkin. Her subconscious wanted him to see her as a worldly, fabulous woman.

The kind of woman he'd be attracted to.

As much as she tried to convince herself that she only wanted to be his friend, her traitorous heart was on a different path, completely ignoring her.

The sane part in Rosalyn knew that only heartbreak awaited her should she choose this path. He didn't want to marry.

"Why does the only man I've ever wanted have no interest in marriage?" she groaned aloud.

Thank heavens the study was empty.

"He's only your friend, Rosalyn," she kept repeating the words to herself like a litany while in her mind's eyes, she saw the passion on his face when he'd been kissing her.

What a kiss that had been! His expert mouth and raw need had left a fire burning in her belly. A fire she couldn't put out.

She'd have to do something. Put some distance between them before the fire consumed her entirely.