Page 20 of Courting Claudia
“She wanted me to be prepared.”
Claudia couldn’t recollect Richard ever looking at her mouth. But Derrick certainly had. She’d never been so aware of her own mouth as she had been in the presence of Derrick Middleton. If Poppy had only told her this piece of information yesterday, she could have been more prepared for today’s kiss. She could still feel his lips on hers. And the thought of running her fingers through his hair—he must think her a complete harlot. That was probably why he left in such a rush.
“Claudia?”
“What?”
“Does Richard ever look at your mouth?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Hmmm…well, that’s at least somewhere to start. From now on you’ll know that if he looks at your mouth, he wants to kiss you.”
“That’s only helpful if he wants to kiss me. How do I get him to want to kiss me?”
“Be more friendly with him, not so formal. Touch his arm when you talk to him. Lick your lips. Make sure you look in his eyes when you’re talking.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“I read a book on it once. And my mother. She’s been tutoring me in the ways of catching a husband since I could talk.”
“I think the first thing I must do is figure out a way to get him alone. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I’ll simply select a time when Father is out of the house and invite Richard over to sit in the garden. No. That’s no good. I’ll invite him over for tea.”
“What’s wrong with the garden?”
That was where Derrick had kissed her. “Richard prefers the indoors.”
“How positively shocking. Are you certain you want to marry him?”
“We’ve been over this. It doesn’t matter much if I want to marry him.” She took a deep breath. It didn’t matter, but it should. She should want to marry Richard. Her father wanted her to, and she should be loyal to that. She met Poppy’s gaze, then said, “Yes, if Richard wants to marry me, then I want to marry him.”
“All right. So you invite him over for tea. And then what will you do?”
“I’m not certain. I suppose we will have a talk. Richard likes to discuss the latest with Parliament. I’ll listen attentively and wait for my opportunity. And then I’ll ask him to kiss me.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t? “Why is that?”
“Because—”
“It isn’t proper,” Claudia said, interrupting her friend before Poppy made her look a complete fool. “What was I thinking?”
“No, that’s not what I was going to say. I was merely thinking that if you’re bold enough to ask a man to kiss you, then you’re bold enough to simply kiss him,” Poppy said.
“Simply kiss him,” she repeated. “I’m not positive I’m bold enough to do either.” She straightened in her seat. If she could kiss a relative stranger like Derrick, then she could certainly muster enough nerve to kiss her beau. “But it’s time I became that way. I’m going to be Richard’s wife. I should be able to have a kiss when I desire one.”
“Absolutely. Although, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but if you’re going to be bold and steal a kiss, I would think Mr. Middleton would be a better candidate.”
Claudia all but dropped her teacup. “Why?” She practically shrieked the word. She needed to have better control of her emotions before Poppy discovered the truth. “I mean, I can’t imagine why I would be kissing Mr. Middleton. I scarcely know him.”
Poppy shrugged. “True, but he’s so dashing and seems the kind of man that would heartily appreciate a woman bold enough to kiss a man. And he seems to like you.”
She should keep that thought in mind. For what? So she could kiss him the next time they were alone? There wouldn’t be a next time.
“That’s ridiculous. We have a business agreement, nothing more.”
From now on she had to keep a professional distance from Mr. Middleton. Lest her father and Richard find out he’d been “courting” her. She almost chuckled out loud. Courting.