The Duke Who Didn't (Wedgeford Trials, #1)

by Courtney Milan

Was there anything in life more pleasurable than the sensation of striking a dark line through an item on one’s list with a pencil? Yes. There was the visceral sensation of taking out one’s pencil and striking a dark line through the last item on one’s daily list.

“Of course.” He frowned. “But I’m to be involved in this kissing as well, so I should get some say. And I think that it’s the effort that makes a kiss worthwhile. If you want me for my extensive body of practical knowledge, you should accept my unrivaled expertise on this point. If I simply tow you into the hills and maul you in a transactional fashion, you’ll be disappointed, and then I’ll be disappointed. Neither of us wants to be disappointed, do we?”

“No. They’ll think I’m a lucky man.” Her temper flared. “Oh yes. They’ll think you have excellent luck indeed. They’ll suspect you of lucking me all night long.”

“I want my wife to intimidate me. I want to know that her enemies will all fall before her. That’s the kind of woman I want by my side. She had better be intimidating.”

But she’d dealt with fears before. She thanked them for keeping her safe, acknowledged them for the work they had done in bringing her to this moment. And then she imagined taking that spiked ball out of her, holding it out as if it were a dandelion puff…and blowing all that fear away, to scatter in the wind.