4. Zeth
Zeth
“Fucking hell,” I swore as soon as I got out of earshot.
When Amby entered the hall looking just as adorable as I remembered, my dormant desires overtook me. Those cute, wire-rimmed glasses didn’t hide the confused glances that always made me kiss him, and those wayward, auburn curls still begged to be tugged and cherished… Shit .
I instantly longed to find the old Amby in there.
The one who turned our after-school tussles into holding hands.
The one whose subtle touches told me he enjoyed my affections.
The Amby who boldly dared me to kiss him when we were fifteen.
That was the Amby I once loved with my whole being.
But I was a scrappy kid with dreams in my pocket while Amby sat at the top of society.
I never deserved him. I did everything I could to not lose him. Yet, I lost him anyway.
Now, here we were as strangers standing almost eye to eye.
Ambrose drew a line in the sand between us with no concern for me or my feelings today, just like he did before I left town.
Always so spoiled. So callous. He ended our relationship because his rich dad was more important than anything between us.
His precious Somerset legacy meant more than our bond.
I was the only one who cared, despite what he said otherwise.
He’d used me for fun… The selfish prick.
That’s why I tricked him with that pretend kiss.
He’d long since crushed my heart and tossed it out like trash, so I showed him how heartless I could be.
But when I pushed Amby against the wall to toy with him, I didn’t expect his needy response to weaken me.
Gaining some slight control over Amby was a new experience, one that made my blood race.
Suddenly, I wanted him more than ever. The worst part was that those eyes of his were begging me to take what I wanted. The way he looked ready to kiss me…
“Damnation.” Swearing didn’t help. Not at all.
I needed to cool off. I couldn’t believe I was thinking such things.
Reaching the front entrance hall, I opened the screen door and crumpled sideways against the frame, holding the door wide to encourage the shadowed porch breeze to blow its cool air upon my face.
I needed to collect myself before meeting with Millie.
My darling little sister would never understand this frustration, and she certainly wasn’t about to grant me a drop of pity for fraying at the edges if she guessed at my lustful desires.
Millie never so much as batted an eyelash at a man.
She seemed immune to sexual temptation. Maybe it was because she was a few years younger than me.
That was bound to change. If only I were so similarly inclined, it would make our mission that much easier.
My whole reason for returning to Everdeen was to marry for money.
Now that little idiot was going to get in my way.
It was bad enough to be in the same town, but to be pushed together constantly…
What a torturous way to spend my time. Just one exposure to Amby made me forget my whole plan and crave his playful and daring affection like a man starved. And I knew how it felt to starve.
I would just have to make sure I didn’t give him a damn inch.
If Amby wanted to marry Anna, he would have to fight for the prize, because I couldn’t change course.
She was the only socialite in Everdeen without parents to dissuade her from marrying me.
Amby, on the other hand, possessed all the wealth and status to marry anyone he wished.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to bow down to him. Never again.
“Such a brat,” I vented into the breeze.
Was that me? Sounding so angry? I learned how to crumple my desires and emotions like paper long ago.
There was no point in getting carried away or wishing for something that couldn’t be.
I knew my place. I knew my path. I wanted this house, and this land, and that damn vase Amby thought I was stealing.
Glancing around the porch, I found it blissfully empty.
The picnic sprawled behind the house and, if the light laughter was any indication, still went on its merry way.
The town’s rich folk all lounged on blankets without a single care for how the food arrived in their pampered hands, or how a man like me saw a vase as two months’ worth of comfortable sleep.
I wasn’t a damn thief. How dare he? He didn’t know what I…
Enough.
Focus on the picnic, let Ambrose go. Anger wasn’t the answer. I needed a level head to win myself a fortune. The cards were stacked against me, but I was smart and amiable. And I had Millie. Well, not at this moment. Where was she?
A rustle came from my left. Like a summoned ghost, Millie’s smiling face rounded the corner of the house and approached quickly.
The way her yellow blouse caught the sun like a beacon, and how her huge steps made the split of her skirt swing open, had me all tense again.
Damn, what were people going to think of her?
I told her not to wear riding attire to a picnic.
We’d spent good money on a pretty dress for this sort of social, but no, she refused to dirty the white lace.
It didn’t matter to her that all the other ladies were wearing white lace.
As Millie leaped up onto the porch, I muttered, “Speaking of brats.”
“What’s that?” Millie raised her brow.
Stepping out, I shut the screen door with an example of how to stay quiet. Then I met her halfway across the porch and greeted her politely with, “I said , ‘I’m so happy to have you by my side.’”
“Instead of being your enemy,” Millie elaborated with a breathless laugh. She wasn’t wrong. “But you didn’t say that, did you? No matter. I forgive your thankless tongue.”
“So kind.”
My sarcasm was palpable.
Millie eyed me with a squint. “What’s wrong with you?”
I shrugged. She didn’t want to hear it. Besides, her dainty straw hat with a yellow ribbon that cost more than my shoes was tilted to the left, so I straightened it.
Instantly, one curl popped free. I huffed at it and tucked it back under the hat.
“It’s ’bout time you finished scouting. I was starting to think you might actually need a search party. So, did you find a good spot to fall?”
She nodded enthusiastically, causing the curl to pop out yet again. “There’s a hidden pond just through the trees behind the garden. Shall I show you?”
“A pond? I never knew about that.”
She gasped. “You mean there’s something my dear brother doesn’t know?”
I squinted beyond her to the treeline behind Anna’s house. I wasn’t in the mood for her right now. “Better still your sass, young lady. We’re about to go into the woods. You don’t want the Field Witch to eat you while we’re in there.”
Millie tsked. “Threatening me with a ghoul who eats naughty children won’t work anymore. Have you not noticed these?” She pushed out her ample bosom to make her point.
I half chuckled and half groaned at her, “Manners, Mils.” She only rolled her eyes at me like I was someone’s grandpa. Why was I blessed with such a charming sister? “Alright, thank you for finding the hidden pond. Will you kindly show me?”
“Aye, this way.” Millie jumped off the porch with both feet. Then she slipped around the side of the house. At least she avoided the picnicking visitors by fleeing along a far trail through the garden.
I followed at a moderate pace until she disappeared into the trees.
Fearing I may lose her completely, I lengthened my stride and enjoyed the tug and pull of solid exercise.
It felt good. Moving. Taking in the fresh air.
Accomplishing something. Even if it was only making my way into a clump of trees and finding Millie moving between them.
She was acting like a child leading me in a game of hide and seek. It felt like old times. I hunched over and hastened my steps, careful of the roots and branches, to catch up to her. Then I tagged her shoulder. When she spun to smack me, I sprang away with a laugh.
Millie had stopped walking, but no matter, I still tagged her.
She rolled her eyes at me again and flung her arm out, pointing.
I followed her yellow sleeve to see we stood at the edge of a pond.
No, it was a small lake. The water was calm and clear with a deep drop not far from the shore.
A faint tangy scent in the air hinted at a salt and mineral lake.
Those were rare and valuable for healing properties and natural resources, but horrid for staining clothes.
My gaze swept around the hidden swimming hole, taking in the surrounding lush bushes and trees. It was all rather beautiful.
A red bird on the far side of the lake splashed in the shallow edge. The pretty thing stopped to stare at me with annoyance before fluttering into a nearby tree. We never saw such sites in the City. Just puddles. And rats.
“Isn’t it lovely?” Millie breathed in awe.
“This… could be ours.” If I married Annabelle Winters. I could see myself sneaking here after a satisfying day of work and stripping down to my skivvies to jump in the cool water. Splashing around like that bird. It would feel heavenly.
My mind betrayed me by imagining Amby jumping in right behind.
He would complain about the water being cold, so I would move closer to warm him with a hug, and he would splash me in the face, I was certain.
Stupidly, that sounded wonderful. Even better, once I dunked him under.
He would pop back up, and then Amby would say “I dare you to kiss me” just as he did that first time in the barn.
“This is perfect,” Millie rudely interrupted my fantasy.
Here I was thinking about Amby again, but now it was with visions of us together instead of my angry reflections from earlier.
I couldn’t get him out of my mind since seeing him again, and that fucking bothered me.
I couldn’t court Amby, and I didn’t return to court him either .
I had returned to Everdeen to make Millie happy and safe, to provide for her like an older brother should.
Nothing about this included my pleasure.
It wasn’t about me at all. It was time to put our plan into action.
Millie would hide here while I begged for Anna’s help in finding my poor, lost sister.
People love to offer assistance if it makes them feel good.
I’d lay it on thick too, my worry and helplessness, so when we did find Millie on the ground by the lake pretending to have twisted her ankle, Anna’s sympathy and attention would make wooing her from there quite easy. Ambrose would lose this war.
“Was your mission successful?” Millie asked.
Nodding, I rattled off what I discovered in the house, “Miss Winters is unmarried, and still very wealthy, if the expensive decorations and elite company are any indication.”
Millie tilted her hat to give me a glance. Perhaps my words had been too sharp. Or disgruntled. I certainly was disgruntled, but she let it go with wise grace. “Then, everything’s working out well. Shall we start?”
Her lips tilted up in pure mischief. Such a sinful child. I didn’t know where she learned that. Not from me.
Or, maybe it was. The mix of emotions stirring within me felt mischievous as I straightened the hair at the sides of my cap.
Playing Anna false was wrong, I knew that, but being good had gotten me nowhere.
We needed to even out the scales, and who better to cause mischief than the Washer siblings? Ambrose Somerset be damned.
Resolute, I turned to Millie with a smile that most likely matched hers. “Aye. It’s time to win a wife.”