Regency Romance: A Duchess in Disguise (Historical 19th Century Victorian Romance) (Duke Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (59 page)

I eagerly pushed my mouth into his, hoping this moment wouldn’t end.  I poured my heart
into
the kiss, and it felt like he did the same.  His passion was burning for me, and mine for him.  But,
there was something underlying
each tender caress and neither of us could shake the feeling as though something was wrong. 

I was the one to push him away.

“This doesn’t feel right anymore,” I said.

He stepped back, touching his hand to his lips, as though he
were remembering
the tenderness of my kiss I had given him only moments ago. 

“This feels so right,” he replied, “but it feels like something is missing.”

I nodded and leaned back against the wall, smacking the back of my head against it in an act of penitence.  The hard surface gave me little solace.

“I can’t do this,” I said, starting to break away from him and get back to the ice.  Tears began to form at the corners of my eyes.

He shot out an arm and pulled me back.

“Casey, listen to me for just a second,” he said. 

I stood still and awkwardly turned back to him, doing my best to wipe away whatever tears were starting to show themselves.

“What,” I asked.

“I think we both know,” he started, “we’ll never be lovers.  I know you feel the same as I do.”

He was right, and that’s what bothered me.  I didn’t know what to say anymore.  I knew that I didn’t have those feelings for him anymore; I was just going through the motions of romance.  I brushed the new tears from my eyes and felt an odd sort of contentedness. 

“Should I call you brother, or should I call you Rick,” I asked.

He looked at me and smiled.  It seemed as though a weight were pulled off both our chests as we continued to chat.

“That’s your choice, Sis,” he replied with a smirk.

I laughed, trying to exhale my remaining emotion; it seemed to work as I could feel my tears begin to dry up.

“Alright,
bro
,” I said.

This time, he laughed along with me before grabbing my hand and giving it one last kiss.  It had an odd sense of finality to it, and I was still a small bit confused, but I knew that we had made the right decision.

He found and wore his
skates,
and we made a few laps around the ice.  Our conversation went from intimate to lighthearted, and I knew that I had gained more than a brother.  I had gained a new best friend and confidant. 

We ended up having to say our goodbyes about halfway through the night when Kathy drank too
much,
and I had to make sure she got home safely.  I did my best to hold her hair back as she made a mess of the school grounds. 

She kept looking up at me with
earnest
tears in her eyes, apologizing every time I patted her on the back.  It made me giddy inside to know that I had become such
a wonderful
roommate, or perhaps it was me knowing that I had some fodder for the next roommate argument. 

After finally managing to make it home unharmed, I helped her out of her party clothes and into bed.  She was still awake as I laid her
into
bed.  It seemed that she wanted a bit of conversation before she’d be able to fall asleep. 

“So, what did I miss from your winter vacation,” she asked.

I told her the only thing I
could;
I had gained a new brother.

*****

THE END

Kara sat by the window, looking out at the rain covering the campus lawn.  It was relaxing for her.  A small group of girls chatted while standing under umbrellas after class.  They smiled and laughed, and Kara wondered if they would have laughed at her jokes as well.

“Is this right, Kara,” asked the student that sat next to her. 

She snapped from her trance and turned to look at her mentee.  With a quick exhale,
she
focused her attention
on
George’s work; running her hand over the page to sort out the details. 

“It looks
right,
but you did the math wrong, here, let me show you,” she said while making corrections. 

With a slow and melodic
tone,
she explained what he had done wrong. 
At first,
he was a bit lost, but the realization of his wrongdoing came to him, and he buried his face in his hand out of embarrassment.

George was
a decent
student, but he made silly mistakes that were taxing to correct at times.  He still always tried his hardest, but he was behind in his studies by a large margin.

The hour came to an end quickly enough, and she was thankful to
be done
with the session.  Not that studying, or teaching, was
really
that hard for her.  Kara had a natural talent for explaining things in ways others were able to understand. 

“Same time next week, George,” she said to the student as he tucked his things into his backpack. 

George stood up, straightening out his ruffled sweater before throwing his bag over his shoulder.

“I’m having a party, tonight.  You’re welcome to come if you want,” he said.

“Oh, that’s alright.  I’m busy
anyway
,” she lied.

“I’ll e-mail you the details
anyway
, in case you change your mind,” he added before taking his leave.

She nodded. 

It’s not as though she had time
anyway
, she was busy the rest of the day with other students requiring her tutelage.  Kara knew she wasn’t like the girls outside, standing in the rain, talking about nothing.  There was an invisible line between them and her that she wished she could cross, but found herself unable.  So, she reconciled herself to being what she had been since grade school, an outsider.

Kara fixed her gaze back to the courtyard, watching the students sprint across in a vain attempt to stay dry.  She took a small amount of pleasure from being dry and watching other students get soaked to the bone. 

Then she saw him trotting nonchalantly through the rain.  Henry didn’t seem to mind getting wet in the rain.  Even now, he played innocently with a handball to pass the time, throwing it against walls and catching it as he walked past. 

He
was alone this
time. Usually,
he was crowded with other hockey players;
all of them boasting about one thing or another
. 

She knew the feeling of solitude, and she could tell that he felt that right now.  He was making his way inside the library, and Kara ducked down in her seat a little more.

Her next student wouldn’t be here for another twenty minutes, so she’d have to do her best to look busy to avoid him again.

His jacket was soaked through, as were most the rest of his clothes.  Henry threw off the
jacket
, figuring it useless now, and shook the rain from his hair. 

Kara watched; he was
actually
quite attractive.  He had a certain grace in the way he held his skinny but
strong
stature.  His clothes were all just a little bit larger than they needed to be, so the rain caused them to sag in unflattering ways.  His hair was wild and unkempt, and just a little too long.  Still, it framed his face up nicely the way it
matted
itself to his head. 

Henry scanned the room with his intense eyes; despite Kara’s best efforts, he still managed to see her.  As though he planned it all along, he stalked up the stairway of the library, straight for Kara. 

She put a few things inside her bag, in an attempt to flee before he arrived, but it was to no avail.

“Hello again, Kara,” he said with a smile on his lips. 

“Hi, Henry,” she replied, slumping back into her chair with a sigh.

“So, are you going to come to the party tonight,” he asked, taking a seat across from her at the table.

“You know, I have more students coming, you should go,” Kara replied.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

She let out a drawn out sigh.

“I’m not that interested.  I have too much to do tonight,
anyway
,” she replied.

“Why do you always do that,” he asked.

“Do what?”

“You always look for an excuse to stay in your bubble.”

“What bubble?  I’m just staying with people I understand.  I don’t
understand
you and your hockey player friends,” she said.

Henry leaned back in his chair.  Kara
really
didn’t want to say no.  She
actually
was interested in going to the party and seeing if anyone else she knew had decided to take the time out to have fun.  She was even interested in spending time with Henry, but the people he liked to spend time with always seemed too
popular
.  Popularity and intelligence just don’t mix.

“Why don’t you just go with Victoria, I’ve heard she likes you,” Kara said.

“Ah, Victoria.  She’s about as interesting as a brick and about as smart as one,” he said, tossing the handball and catching it.

“Wow, you’re
nice
to people that like you.  I’d hate to see what you’re like to people that hate you,” Kara said sarcastically.

“If you keep turning me down, you just might find out,” he replied.

“If I accept your
offer then
I’ll be in the same boat as Victoria; I know how many notches you have on your belt,” Kara quipped.

“There’s only one notch that I’m
really
interested in, but she just doesn’t seem that interested,” he said with a wink.

“She’d be interested if you were a little less full of yourself,” Kara replied.

“And he’d be
a little less full
of himself if she’d stop living inside of a shell,” he added.

Kara slammed the last of her books closed and started stuffing them
into
her bag.  She wasn’t interested in sticking around and listening to his drivel.  It wasn’t the first time they’d had a heated discussion and probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Great, just run away like you always do,” he said.

“I’m leaving because you won’t.”

“
Hey,
Henry!  How’s the date going,” said one of his teammates, jokingly, from the bottom of the stairs.

“Going great, we get married next week,” he shouted with a grin.

Kara rolled her eyes and stood up to leave.  Henry stood and shot out in front of her, blocking her path.

“Kara, please.  Come to the party tonight.  If you come tonight, then I won’t bother you ever again.  I promise you’ll have fun,” he said.

She relaxed her shoulders and threw her head back, taking a deep breath. 

“You promise, for sure you promise,” she asked.

“Sure, if it’ll get you to go,” he replied.

Kara had wanted to say yes the first time he asked her out.  But, his reputation had always preceded him.  He’d date unscrupulously and drank like a sailor.  Then there were his supposed habits with money. 

“Fine,” she said, “but it isn’t a date.”

“You finally said yes! 
This is
the happiest day of my life,” he sarcastically boasted, “I wonder what gown I’ll wear to the ball.”

He danced his way off, down the stairs, until he joined up with his friend.  As his final act
before
leaving, he blew a kiss to Kara. 

She regretted having said yes; perhaps she would turn her phone off and pretend to be asleep, instead.

2.

It must have
been passed
ten when her phone started dancing its way across her nightstand.  Her comforter was just the right
temperature,
and she
deigned
the idea of moving.  Still, she rolled herself to her side and palmed her phone.  With a click on the
device,
she answered.

“What,” Kara mouthed.

“You haven’t
shown,
I thought you promised,” returned the voice of Henry.

“No, I promised nothing.  You just promised you’d leave me alone if I went,” she replied.

“I see you don’t want me to stop bothering you.  You’re quite a schemer,” said the smug voice of Henry again.

Kara let out a drawn out sigh.

“How did you even get my number,” she asked.

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” he replied, clicking off the receiver. 

Kara was hopelessly stuck.  She wanted to stay home and be comfortable.  It would be an early day tomorrow, so
at least,
she had an excuse to leave early.

Having been almost laundry day, Kara was lacking in interesting things to wear, so she just pulled on whatever was lying around and left. 

The party was, thankfully, nearby.  Kara pulled her jacket a little tighter as she walked the empty sidewalks to the house just down the street.  While she walked, she wondered.  Why wouldn’t Henry just leave her alone after she said no the first hundred times? 

The lights from the party spilled to the roadside, making the shadows of the guests dance in odd ways.  Music was playing tastefully loud inside, and the conversation echoed out into the night.

Kara walked up, hoping to see Henry right away.  She just wanted to make her appearance and leave, nothing more.  But, Henry wasn’t out front, nor was he inside the house. 

In the backyard an awful din rose, drowning out the rest of the guests.  Kara decided to investigate and had a keen feeling that Henry would be somewhere in the middle.  She wasn’t wrong.

A makeshift court
was erected
, made of garbage cans and traffic cones.  Some of the hockey players were skating around on rollerblades, chasing after a handball that was serving as a puck.  Henry seemed to be relishing in the excitement, taking shots
backwards
between his legs. 

He even played one handed for a while as he drank from a red plastic cup, what Kara assumed was alcohol.  Of course, she thought, he would be the one drinking while playing a sport with this much activity.

Henry caught her eye as he sailed past, and in so doing, lost his footing falling flat on his back; spilling beer all over himself.  Kara couldn’t help herself and
laughed
along with the rest of the crowd. 

The game ended with that, not many of the other players showed an interest past having a good laugh at Henry.  It was probably for the best.

“You finally showed, I see,” said Henry while he dabbed as much alcohol off his shirt as he could.

“I had to, remember,” Kara replied, dismally. 

Henry stripped off his sullied shirt and began to strut toward the house.  He must have been freezing because Kara was freezing while wearing her winter coat.  She could make out his breath smoking in the air as he
walked;
he didn’t
really
seem to care.

Henry’s toned abs glistened with cold sweat.  Kara followed him inside since he was the only person she knew that was present. 

Henry was passed a new glass of beer by George, who was standing by a keg indoors; he flashed Kara a knowing smile and handed her one as well, which she took and examined.

“When you’re popular, it’s easy to find a beer,” started Henry. 

Kara took a sip and hated the taste.

“Why do you drink this crap,” she asked.

“Because being sober on a weeknight is for losers,” Henry responded confidently.

Kara set her drink on a table where it was immediately snatched up by another guest. 

“Okay, I came.  Now tell me where you got my number,” said Kara hastily.

“I’ll give you a choice, I’ll either stop bothering you in person, or you can find out who gave me your number.  But, you can’t have both,” Henry said with a
cockish
smile. 

Kara’s frustration was palpable. 

“Fine, you can keep the
stupid
phone number. 
At least,
I can block you on my phone.”