Page 52 of How to Capture a Duke

“Duke!” Catherine leaped toward him then launched herself into his arms in a flurry of skirts. “I told Auntie Olivia that I hoped you would come. Let’s play.”

Tristan smoothed a wayward lock of red hair from her eyes. “Who’s the boy?”

“My cousin, Alexander.” Catherine took Tristan by the hand and tugged him toward the others.

Olivia dusted dirt off her skirts as he approached. “This is Lord and Lady Castleton’s son, Lord Alexander.”

Tristan held out his hand. “Hello.”

“Are you the duke?” Alexander stared up at him with inquisitive brown eyes.

“I am.”

He pursed his lips. “You gave cousin Catherine a train. I want one.”

“Alexander!” Olivia chided. “Is that any way to ask for anything?”

“I want one, please.”

“I’ll buy you a train on one c…c-ondition,” Tristan said.

“What’s a condition?”

“An agreement,” Catherine answered, her chest puffing up in self-importance.

“If we beat the ladies at hoops, then I will buy you a train,” Tristan said.

Alexander’s eyes widened. “Agreed.”

Olivia cocked her head to the side and studied the duke. “You mean to challenge us to a race?”

“I do.”

Olivia folded her arms across her chest and met his eyes. “What will we get if we win?”

“I’d like to go to Gunther’s for ices,” Catherine said, quick to speak up.

Tristan nodded in agreement.

“And me? What will I get?” Olivia asked, a glint of mischief appearing in her gaze.

Tristan’s eyes licked over her like a candle flame. She looked beautiful with her disheveled fair hair and a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Her light, teasing nature caught him off guard. He didn’t feel the normal alarm at a woman’s machinations. Rather, he experienced something else, something far more dangerous that he was helpless to resist.

“What would you lik…lik…w-want?”

“For you to escort me to the theater.”

A night out with his wife. To escort her on his arm, to spend an evening with her in a private theater box, to enjoy the play. A perfectly ordinary request. Only they did not have an ordinary marriage.

How could he do it? How could he deny her?

“I agree. If you win.”

Her lips, her very kissable lips, curved in a feminine smile. “I never lose.”

Chapter Eighteen

Olivia’s heart beat irregularly as she gazed up at Tristan. He bent on a knee to look Alexander in the eye and spoke softly to the boy. “We can do this.”