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She’d felt it even when her mind and her heart were in disarray; when both she and Anthony were desperately trying to push their feelings aside.
She melted every time he smiled at her — that damned pleasing smile of his — gazing at her with a tenderness that crinkled the corners of his eyes and gave way to those sweet dimples on his handsome features that made her heart ache just so.
She melted the first time she saw him hold Augie with the experience of the eldest brother of eight and the softness of one who has raised the last two as his own.
She melted when he proposed in the Featherington gardens, when she caught him working late nights in his study to set things right for their six month honeymoon, when he peppered her with kisses as they lazed around in bed, and every time he took them to heights unknown and cried out Kathani with a reverence she still can’t quite believe.
And yes, she melted when she saw him gently pet Newton (unbeknownst to the supposedly dueling duo) as her pup slept contentedly on his lap.
What else can a woman do when her husband is so damned sweet? And while being ridiculously handsome at that!
So yes, Lady Kathani Bridgerton — tall, regal, exacting, intimidating, Viscountess Bridgerton — absolutely melts when her husband is around.
And even when he isn’t, her heart yearns for his return to her side with every hour, every minute, and every second they spend apart.
And so, when — after hours of poring over ledgers and letters — she hears the door to her study open and sees her Anthony slip through the door with his jacket gone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and greets her with that lovely boyish smile and the kindest crinkled eyes she has ever seen, she melts.
She breathes him in, not realizing she hadn’t been breathing as freely when he was away, and lets out a sigh full of warmth, of relief, of the greatest love and fondness towards her loving husband, welcoming him home,
“You’re back”