Venetia turned to the inn window just in time to see Ravenscroft running to the barn, his thin legs carrying him as fast as they could through the deep snow. Venetia turned to Gregor. “What did you do to him?”
Gregor crossed the room to stand beside her, leaning forward to watch Ravenscroft scramble toward the barn. “He was getting out of hand. I merely stopped it.”
She frowned, suspicion clear in her gaze.
The light from the snow caressed the line of her brow and cheek. Gregor regarded her critically, trying to see her without the hazy gauze of friendship. He tried to see her the way that besotted fool, Ravenscroft, apparently did.
Venetia was not an ordinarily beautiful woman. Her figure was round and pleasing, but a bit heavier than the current fashion allowed. Her arms were lovely and round, her breasts full and lush, as were her hips. She was not a small woman, which was a good thing; a frailer body could not have contained such a passionate soul. Gregor had to admit that there was something very taking about Venetia. Perhaps it was the mixture of intelligence, humor, and liveliness that shone from her gray eyes.
“Gregor? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just wondering what attracted Ravenscroft.”
Her cheeks tinged with color. “Don’t strain your eyes.”
“Stop being missish. I see plenty to admire.”
She regarded him with obvious disbelief and he laughed. No one made him laugh like Venetia. And no one took the time to engage him in debate the way Venetia did, either. For years, since they’d first met, they’d been friends and confidents. Which was why it was very disconcerting to look at her now and realize that somehow, over the years, Venetia had grown into a very sensual woman.
Gregor had somehow avoided noting that fact. Now . . . his gaze swept over her, lingering on her full breasts, her rounded hips, her full bottom lip where moisture glistened—
Heat flooded him, a sharp crackle of attraction that caught him in an iron grip. Suddenly, he was no longer beside her, but turning to face her.
Venetia’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushed a soft pink. “Gregor? What—” She closed her mouth as if unable to say the thought aloud.
Gregor stopped, amazed at himself. Bloody hell, what am I doing? First he came charging to the rescue, which he rarely did, being a man more given to allowing others to rescue themselves, and now he was looking lustfully at the one woman he knew not to; his best friend, Venetia.
But as he looked at her, his gaze locking on the full curve of her mouth, he realized that in that instant, something had changed. Something important.
Something that was going to change their lives forever.
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