Page 63 of A Temporary Bride for the Duke

Edmund felt his chest warm up as he watched them.

Harry looked at her as if she were the most interesting person in the world. And Edmund, for his part, could not bring himself to disagree with his son’s astute observation.

The game began, and as she’d predicted, Daisy fumbled the first few throws.

“Come on, Lady Daisy, you can do it!” Harry coached. He was true to his word as he cheered her on from the sidelines.

“I know I can,” she muttered.

Then, she fitted the hook one more time on her crisscrossed rods. Brow furrowed with concentration, she widened the rods, and the hook flew in the air.

The Duke caught it with ease.

“Hooray!” Harry yelled.

Daisy laughed. “All right, pray that I catch the one your father throws,” she said just as Edmund aimed the hook towards her.

She lifted her rods, and to her surprise, the hook landed right on one of them.

“Oh!” she cried in surprise.

Harry laughed.

Snaking the other rod inside the hook, Daisy prayed that her earlier success would be repeated. She let the hook fly, as both she and Harry encouraged it with murmured words.

The Duke leaped up and caught it in both rods. Both Daisy and Harry jumped up and down in glee.

“Don’t let yourself get too carried away,” the Duke called. “We’ve only caught two. We have eight more to go. Time is of the essence.”

“Yes, right.” Daisy moved away from Harry and clutched her rods. “I’m ready.”

The game continued with more misses than hits, but Daisy looked around and realized they were doing no worse than the other teams. The Duke’s dexterity was really making up for her lack thereof. She could not help thinking how well they complemented each other. Where one was lacking, the other one picked up the slack.

It was the perfect partnership.

Don’t let yourself get too carried away.

It was a formal partnership, meant to win the games. Nothing more.

Harry was a steadfast cheerleader, one time actually moving Daisy’s arms so that she was in the right place to catch the hook. She looked down at him and winked.

He put a finger on his lips. “Shh.”

She grinned and nodded to him before focusing on passing the hook back to Edmund. There was something about the sun shining into his eyes that made her feel as if she could see into his soul. He flicked his hair away from his face at one point, and beads of sweat landed on the grass where they glistened like tiny diamonds.

“Just one more,” the Duke called.

“One more,” Daisy echoed.

“Just one more!” Harry chimed in eagerly.

Daisy smiled, bracing herself to catch the hook. Harry braced himself as well. Edmund looked from one to the other and shook his head. He let the hook fly, and Daisy watched it come. She lifted her rods eagerly to get the hook on the first try.

The hook fell to the ground.

“Oh, fiddlesticks!” she cried.

Harry slapped his head and groaned dramatically.