Almost A Spinster by Jenna Petersen Read Free Book Online

entered her cheeks. She lifted a hand to touch her lips, swollen from the pressure of his mouth on hers. With a little gasp, she pushed past her friend and disappeared toward the house.
    Felicity watched her go, then her blue eyes swung back to Wesley with focused intent and judgment. He shifted beneath the gaze, unsure of how to handle what had just transpired.
    “You have the worst timing in the world, Lady Felicity,” he breathed, trying for a cocky grin that fit his reputation, if not the painful pounding of his heart.
    One of Felicity’s eyebrows arched delicately. The cocky grin clearly did not impress her.
    “Actually, I think I have very good timing, Lord Stanton,” she said with a cool smile. “Imagine if I hadn’t been the one to-er-” She blushed. “To interrupt when I did. Someone else might have caused my friend no end of trouble.”
    He pursed his lips. Of course she was correct. “Yes, I realize that.”
    “Do you?” Felicity cocked her head. “I hope you do. Because if you hurt her, you will be even worse than David. And I always believed better of you.” She turned her back and walked away.
    Her words stinging in his ears, Wesley watched her go, then turned toward the terrace to stare into the inky night with unseeing eyes. His lips burned, his blood boiled and desire more powerful than any he’d felt before made his knees weak. How far was he willing to go?
    To get what his heart desired… to win Jane’s heart and more?
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    Jane’s cheeks burned, even though her hands were like ice against her skin. Worse yet, her lips burned, bringing back powerful images and feelings about the way Wesley’s mouth had moved against hers.
    When she kissed him, she’d never imagined it would go so far out of control so quickly. So irrevocably. And now everything was changed. Everything.
    Even the feelings in her heart.
    “Will you stop running?”
    She came to a halt in the hallway and turned to find Felicity, her skirt in her fist, hurrying after her. When she stopped in front of Jane, she placed a hand on her stomach and panted to catch her breath.
    “Dear Lord, Jane, I thought certain I would never catch you.”
    Jane stared at her friend, unable to say anything. What was there to say? Felicity had seen enough to know what had happened between Wesley and her. There was no denying a hidden passion had erupted on the terrace… and she found she didn’t really want to deny it, no matter how wrong that desire was.
    “Please say something,” Felicity said softly, her face darkening with concern. “Or I might think Wesley kissed away your sense.”
    “Felicity!” Jane snapped, looking around the empty hallway to ensure no one was hidden to hear her friend’s damning sentence.
    “There isn’t anyone about,” Felicity said with a roll of her eyes. “And I have to admit, I’m very pleased you have shifted your affections to a more worthy target!” Her friend’s grin was wide enough to appear painful. “When you arrived here tonight and he was so attentive to you, I was hopeful, but now I can admit I always thought Lord Stanton would be a better match for you than his friend.”
    Jane drew back. Felicity had always wished her to be with Wesley? She had never known.
    But that was ridiculous! Everything Felicity had witnessed that night between the two of them had been part of an elaborate charade.
    She thought briefly of the kiss on the terrace and shivered with the memory. Almost everything.
    “Stanton may be many things,” Felicity continued, completely unaware that every word only put Jane into more confusion and upset. “But I saw the way he watched you when you ran away… he is truly besotted. And a rake like that, once he settles down, will likely make a true and good husband. Or so my sisters tell me. They have married their own reformed rakes, you know.” Felicity grabbed for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I am pleased for you, Jane. You deserve all the happiness in the