In vino veritas. In wine is truth. And, for once in her life, Shelby had drunk enough to see all the truth wine held.
She’d come to a few conclusions.
The movies lied. The books lied. There was no such thing as romance. Happy endings were a crock. Maybe she was crocked, or cracked, or whatever the word was.
These were Shelby’s profound if wine-fogged conclusions as she stood at her window, staring out at the darkness.
She was always at a window, always looking out. Even when she was outside, she was looking out. Looking, never doing. Seeing, never being a part of anything.
But well dressed. Well groomed. Well protected.
Cushioned.
Cocooned.
Trapped.
She was twenty-five and still as close to a virgin as somebody could be after having a single one-night disappointment her second year of college. She’d been in love; she swore it. Until the next day. Until she found out that her “lover” was bragging about “bagging the Ice Maiden” to anyone who would listen.
And Parker? The man treated her as if she were made of imported crystal. He said he respected her and, respecting her, he would wait for their wedding night. What a prince...
Private schools. Private life.
Cosseted.
Smothered.
Do the right thing, Shelby. Stand here. Smile. Remember that you’re a Taite. Guard your privacy, guard your honor, never betray your family name.
Marry well.
Marry now.
Marry? Why?
“Miss Taite? Will there be anything else?”
Shelby sighed, turned to face her young maid. “No, thank you, Susie. And you really didn’t have to wait up for me.”
“Yes, miss. Well, then, if there’s nothing else?”
“Go, go,” Shelby said, turning back to the window, to the view of nothing. She stood there for at least five minutes more, watching as a cloud passed over the full moon then drifted on, leaving the gardens washed in silver.
Below her a door opened, and a shaft of yellow light spilled onto the kitchen patio. She watched as Susie, now dressed in shorts and a knit top, crossed the patio and ran down the steps to the lawn.
Shelby pushed the drape back further and rolled open the large casement window in time to hear a man’s voice call out to Susie. The young girl broke into a run as a shape separated from the shadow of the trees. Within moments Susie was in the man’s arms, being swung around in a circle, being held, being kissed.
She could hear their laughter, feel their joy.
What would it feel like to have Parker wait in the moonlight for her? Pick her up, kiss her madly, carry her off into the trees, lay her down on the ground, make mad, passionate love to her?
Sure, like that was going to happen....