Winter's Kiss (Howertys #3)

Chapter 3: Meeting Lord Winter

I found him. Nicola Howerty was still reeling the next evening as she stood next to her friends at Lady Bates' ball. I finally found him. The man she'd never learnt the name of. In fact, she'd not been quite certain she'd not dreamed him up altogether. After all, she had been rather inebriated when she'd met him at her brother's wedding all those years ago, and she'd never seen him since. Until yesterday.

It was ridiculous—she knew—but somehow, the memory of the gentle man stroking her back as she was ill underneath that table had stayed with her. Over the years, the memory had turned into an image of how she imagined the perfect man. And he was here, in London. Obviously, someone beneath her station in life if he worked for the Rose Agency, but even so. Then, on top of it all, he had kissed her. And it had been glorious. It was such a shame she'd been too surprised to do anything.

She let out a little sigh at the thought, causing her friend, Olivia Newton, to turn her head to gaze at her. "What in the world is the matter with you today, Nick? You're acting very strange, indeed."

"I wager one of these young chaps has stolen her heart," John Osborne, another good friend of hers, said with a quirky grin.

Letting out a scoff, she levelled a glare at him. "As if any of these dolts could interest me. They care more for their own polished boots than to hear anything I have to say."

John laughed at her disgruntled tone. Olivia merely looked a little worried. "But Nick," she said. "You were so looking forward to your Season. Are you already tired of it? It's barely been a week."

Despite them being the same age, Olivia was already on her third Season. Nick had postponed her debut for two years while living with a beloved uncle in the last years of his life. After having put it off for so long, she had been looking forward to finally attending the Season, but she wasn't enjoying it as much as she had expected. Not with the unpleasant business of Lord Wyndon hanging over her head. Quickly pushing the thought away—she really just wanted to have a pleasant evening without worrying about it—she smiled at her friend.

"Oh, don't worry. I am very much enjoying myself. There simply isn't anyone that has caught my interest so far. To be quite frank, they are all the same. One man is another alike." She threw a mischievous smile in John's direction. "Present company excluded, of course."

"Much appreciated," he replied dryly.

Nick was just about to continue teasing him when her brother Nathaniel, the Marquess of Pensington, tapped her on the shoulder. "Nick," he said. "Can you walk with me a moment? I'd like to introduce you to some people I don't believe you have met yet."

"Of course." She took his arm as he offered it and followed as he moved across the room. Wherever they went, ladies' heads turned. It had amused her to discover this when she arrived in London. She knew her brother was handsome, but never having seen him in society, she'd not quite realised how handsome or how women reacted to it.

He was tall and slender with wide shoulders and a good physique. Unlike her own blonde hair, his was dark, nearly black, but they shared the same dark brown eyes. As she looked at the ladies ogling her brother, she had to admit it was commendable that he did not return the favour. He'd been quite a ladies' man once, but since marrying his wife Angel, he didn't even seem to notice other women.

"Nick?" Her brother's voice cut through her thoughts and she turned her head back to look at him. "Are you listening to me?"

"No," she answered honestly, flashing him a grin she hoped was at least somewhat apologetic.

He gave her an irritated look, which was nothing out of the ordinary, he was irritated with her most of the time. But then he was quite an easy man to irritate. At times she did her utmost to do so, simply because it was amusing. "I was just saying that you should take your time," he said. "You will receive a lot of attention from many gentlemen now that you've had your coming out and are officially on the marriage market. But I want you to take your time. Make the right decision. I want you to be happy."