A Bold Request
Chapter four
Christopher did not know what had happened. One moment, his heart ached at seeing Juliet so distraught, and the next, it jumped at the thought of kissing her.
And he wanted to. Heaven help him, but it was all he could think about.
Trembling, Juliet stood before him, her eyes wide and tears clinging to their lashes. He felt her cheeks warm beneath his hands as she dropped her gaze in mortification. He could see that she had not meant to ask for a kiss, that the words had all but slipped from her tongue. But why had she?
A part of Christopher did not care, urging him closer, urging him to reach for what he had only ever imagined.
He moved then; what little distance remained between them shrinking. His gaze dropped to her lips, slightly parted, her rapid breath mingling with his own.
Her green eyes flew up to meet his once more, now wide and…fearful?
Christopher cursed silently. “Tell me what happened,” he urged her, allowing his thumbs to sweep over her delicate cheek bones once more.
Deep down, he wished he knew her better…as he once had. Years ago, he only needed to look at her to know what was in her heart. But who was she today? What had brought those tears to her eyes? What had prompted her to ask for a kiss?
Her lashes swept downward as she tried to lower her head. “It is nothing,” she whispered in a voice that sounded vulnerable. “I did not mean…” He felt her hands against his, urging him to release her.
Swallowing, Christopher complied, regret filling his heart as he took a step back.
Away from her.
“It is not nothing,” Christopher insisted, unable to let it go. He wanted to know. He needed to know. Whether Juliet felt as he did did not matter; to him, she was still his best friend, his confidante…the woman he knew like no other.
The woman he had known like no other.
Wiping at her eyes, Juliet shook her head to chase away whatever had caused this emotional outburst. Christopher knew she rarely succumbed to tears; her heart stronger than one would expect from the delicate look of her.
That, more than anything else, made him determined to understand what had happened.
If something had affected her enough to bring tears to her eyes, he could not ignore it.
Christopher could see that she wanted him to leave her alone; yet he could not. He reached to touch her arm, and she slowly lifted her eyes to his. “What happened, Jules? Tell me.”
At his use of her nickname, she stilled before a shuddering breath left her lips. Her eyes held his, and Christopher could see her thoughts traveling back to a time when he had never called her anything else. Indeed, it felt good to say it again. It had been too long.
Juliet flinched as a bout of laughter echoed through the door, immediately followed by Harry’s voice. “You dared him to kiss her? Grandma, you’re without a doubt the worst one of us!”
More laughter drifted to their ears as Christopher held Juliet’s gaze, watched her turn such a dark shade of red that he feared she might burst into flames. “Is this what brought on your request?”
Her throat worked. “My request?”
Sidling closer, he dropped his voice. “You asked me to kiss you.” He lifted his brows, his lips curling up into a smile. “Have you forgotten?”
Juliet’s mouth opened and closed a few times as her eyes darted to his and then away and then back to him. “I…I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.” A shy smile came to her lips. “It was only because…”
“Because?” Christopher pressed. “What are they talking about?” His gaze settled more firmly upon hers. “Kisses?”
Juliet swallowed. “First kisses,” she elaborated with great reluctance.
“I see.” Christopher could not help but wonder who had claimed hers. “And you do not wish to participate?”
Her eyes closed for a brief moment before she lifted her chin, her gaze now meeting his without flinching away. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Her lips thinned. “Because…I’ve never been kissed,” she huffed out at last, a hint of a challenge coming to her face as though daring him to laugh at her.
Christopher blinked. “You’ve never…?” Each day he had spent away from her, he had feared that another would lay claim to the woman he had so carelessly set aside.
Indeed, he remembered his shock when he had returned to English soil the previous year and found her still unwed.
Were the men of England blind, deaf and dumb?
Not that he minded.
“It is why I asked you to…” Her words broke off, and a touch of mortification once more burned in her eyes.
“I see.” Christopher could not help the stab of disappointment that went through him at the thought that he was merely a means to an end. Did she truly feel nothing for him any longer? Only moments ago, he could have sworn that…
“I should leave.” She made to step past him. “I—”
“Why?”
Juliet frowned. “Why what?”
“Why have you never been kissed?”
“Oh!” Her gaze fell from his, and she began tugging on her left sleeve distractedly.
“I…eh…” Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath, then looked at him.
“It simply never happened. No one ever cared enough, I suppose.” A brave smile flitted over her features.
“Not even you would want to…” The hint of accusation that swung in her voice surprised Christopher, as though she had asked him for a kiss, and he had had the nerve to refuse her.
He sidled closer again, a slow smile coming to his face as he watched her watching him, a touch of alarm coming to her eyes. “You do recall me saying ‘yes’, do you not?”
A nervous chuckle fell from her lips, and she retreated a step. “Yes, but…you didn’t mean it. You only—”
“I meant it, Jules,” Christopher assured her without a moment of hesitation as another step carried him closer, his gaze fixed on hers.
Juliet swallowed. “But only because—” Her back suddenly collided with the closed door to the drawing room, and her head snapped up as she found him towering above her. “I mean, it’s kind of you to…to…”
Christopher had to admit that he rather liked this flustered look about her. She seemed wholly unaware of how deeply alluring she was.
A slow grin tugged upon the corners of his mouth. Perhaps he should enlighten her. “It has nothing to do with kindness, Jules,” he whispered, then leaned closer and braced his hands against the door, one on each side of her head. “Nothing at all.”
Her green eyes were wide as she looked at him, disbelief etched into her face. “You…You wish to kiss me?”
Slowly, Christopher nodded.
Juliet swallowed, her eyes blinking rapidly. “I…We…You…” She licked her lips, then swallowed again.
Christopher smiled. He could not help it. She was adorable. How on earth had he made it through the past six years without her?
Gently, he grasped her chin, urging her to look at him. He could feel a shiver go through her and knew that he would never forget this day. “Look at me, Jules.”
After an agonizingly long moment, her eyes rose and met his. They shimmered with tears, and yet the way they looked into his spoke of a yearning that reflected his own. “I’ve missed you.”
Christopher swallowed hard, guilt clawing at his heart. “I’ve missed you as well.” He had stayed away for too long, but now he was here. They both were.
Here.
Together.
In this moment.
Christopher’s gaze dropped to her mouth, and he leaned in. Her soft breath shuddered past her lips and brushed against his own. He closed his eyes and—
“Lockhart!”
It was the harshness, the warning in Troy’s tone as well as the fact that his old friend had addressed him by using his title instead of his first name that sent a cold shudder down Christopher’s back. His eyes flew open, staring down into Juliet’s, her own now wide and filled with alarm.
Still, more than anything, it was regret that surged through Christopher’s body in that moment.
Regret to have this perfect moment interrupted.
“Curse your brother’s timing,” he muttered under his breath, his gaze locked upon Juliet’s before it briefly darted to her lips.
“Later,” he told her with unmistakable meaning in his voice, delighting in the way her eyes fell from his for a brief moment before returning.
In the next moment, the door at Juliet’s back opened, completely upending her balance.