“Nell… Miss Tait…wait.”
She almost, reflexively, told him she was Nell to him, but something held her back, even as she allowed her heart to be heard.
It wanted him.
And perhaps this time, with this man, it was safe to follow her heart’s lead.
But, first, he had words to speak to her and she to him.
He stopped a few feet shy of her, his chest heaving from his sprint. He stood close enough that she could reach out and take his hand or caress his cheek or press her palm against his heart and feel its steady beat, hard and true, and assure him it was safe with her.
Not yet.
To have the future they could have, the air must be clear between them.
“What is it you have to say?” she asked, as out of breath as he.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you.” The apology rushed out in a tumble. “I should have told you my true identity from the start, but—” He shook his head. “Nobut. I should have told you.”
It was Nell who wanted to explore that “but.” “Butwe were on a holiday.Butit was to be a three-day lark.”
He shook his head. “That’s no excuse.”
“ButI would’ve only seen a duke.”
And there it was. The truth. The obstacle. It sat solid in the air between them. The moon and stars gave enough light that she could see his gaze burning into her.
She continued speaking words that needed to be said. “And I wouldn’t have seen the man.”
“I was wrong.”
“But you were right,” she insisted.
His mouth opened and closed in puzzlement. “Pardon?”
“I would have smiled at you, maybe even have dipped in a curtsy, then bid you a good day and gone on my way. I would’ve never seen you again, and if I had, I would’ve kept my eyes lowered and not drawn attention to myself.”
Bewilderment creased the space between his eyebrows. “What are you saying exactly?”
“That you were wrong, and…” She swallowed. “I was, too.”
Again, he shook his head. “In no way were you in the wrong.”
He needed to hear this if he was to ever truly understand her. “In the shop, I cater to aristocrats daily. And many—well,most—are rather high in the instep. So, when I know someone is a nob, I paste a smile on my face and make my assumptions about them behind it.”
“Likely all correct,” he inserted.
“And it’s formed something in me that I criticize them for having.” She paused. “Snobbery.I’vebeen the snob. Notyou, the duke.”
“I’m simply a man.” He spread his hands wide. “A man who has met the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.”
A laugh escaped her. “How like a duke to talk about himself in the third person.” The ribbing was gentle and cracked through his seriousness, drawing out a smile that tipped the corner of his mouth. “But wasn’t I just your bit of fun?” She needed to know.
“Yes.”
She gasped. She hadn’t expected that.
“And I hope you’ll be my bit of fun for the rest of our lives.”
