Page 38

“No! Don’t even say that!” Jo cried passionately. “You said no! That pig of a man should have taken no for an answer and instead, he forced you!”

“Don’t say that, Jo.” Selena shook her head. “My body reacted to him. He could feel it.”

“My body reacts sometimes when I am riding in a carriage on the cobblestones,” Jo said angrily, and Selena fell into heaps of laughter. Selena was distressed, but at least Jo made her laugh.

Selena wiped her tears again. “He was… It wasn’t bad. And the next time it was just a pure moment of passion.”

Jo let out a shuddering breath. She understood something about moments of passion. She’d succumbed to one herself, hadn’t she?

“And then I just thought that maybe he wanted me. Me.” Selena swallowed and shook her head. “But now I see that I was a temporary distraction.”

Jo looked out the window forlornly. A temporary distraction. At least the viscount was upfront about his intentions. While Mick… Well, he was just a pig.

Actually, it was an insult to a pig to compare the two.

Jo didn’t say any of that to her friend. That’s not what she needed. Everything started to make sense though, the ripped clothing, the nights missing from the room. Selena was having a secret affair. But why Mick? He was nothing but a pompous cad.

And why Richard?

Jo grimaced. Would the man ever leave her thoughts?

“I think I am going to leave the house party early,” Selena said, sounding defeated.

“No. You can’t. You can’t show him how much it hurt you. You can’t—”

Selena pursed her lips and shook her head. “He already knows. He doesn’t care. Whether I find another man or stay mourning his loss. Whether I live or die. He doesn’t care.”

“He is an arse, and he does not deserve your tears. Please, do not make hasty decisions now.”

“I can’t watch him parade a line of women before my eyes, Jo!” Selena cried, her lips trembling. She bit her lip and looked away.

Jo’s heart squeezed for her friend. It was the most painful thing when the person you chose didn’t choose you back. “Do you love him?” she asked softly.

Selena chuckled bitterly. “No. But it still hurts.”

“I wish I could make the pain go away,” Jo said. “You deserve a man so much better than that scoundrel. You need someone who will be gentle with you, who’ll realize the treasure that you are.”

One side of Selena’s mouth kicked up in a smile. “And until then?”

Jo pursed her lips. “Until then, you’ll have me to rely on.” And Jo meant every word. Through every heartbreak and misfortune, she wasn’t about to let her friend suffer alone. Decision made, she nodded to herself. “And if you’re certain you want to leave the house party, then I am coming with you.”

Selena frowned. “But you are enjoying yourself here. Don’t leave on my account.”

Perhaps she wasn’t. Perhaps she was trying to escape something, too. Escape before she got too entangled with a certain viscount. “Selena, I am not leaving you on your own. So either you are staying or we are both leaving.”

Selena grumbled something indecipherable under her breath.

“What did you say?” Jo frowned.

“I said you are such a good friend,” Selena said tightly.

Jo let out a chuckle. “Somehow I doubt that’s what you said!”

Selena smiled at her softly. “But I meant it. Thank you for being here for me.”

Jo squeezed Selena’s fingers. “I love you, dear. No need to thank me for that.”

After a few minutes of just sitting there in silence, both women stood and went up to their room. They ended up spending the entire night chatting, laughing, and dreaming about a better tomorrow.