“Christian. Where did you say we’re going?”
“Winterforth. Four days’ ride to London. I will see you where you needs be.”
Where she needed to be? Not where. When. Though how did she get back to her own time when she didn’t have a clue how she’d traveled through time in the first place?
Ashley wanted to try clicking her heels together or saying abracadabra or some other incantation, but she felt silly, and he would think she was crazy. The last thing she wanted was to end up in anasylum or locked away in a convent. It was a wonder he hadn’t thought she was crazy already by the way she’d been acting.
Think, Ashley.From the moment she arrived, she went over everything she’d said and made a note to be much more careful. To listen and learn. Blend until she could figure out a way to go home.
And suddenly Ben, and the merger, her promotion, and even Mitch seemed very far away. Her priorities shifted. All she cared about now was going home. New York was full of jobs. Let Mitch have the promotion. She was smart. Another firm would be lucky to have her.
CHAPTER 11
Christian woke,warm and content, the ever-present loneliness gone. The smell of roses made him smile as Ashley wound his hair around her finger.
“Oh, good morning.” Then her eyes went to her hand and she turned pink. “Sorry, habit.”
“We should not tarry. It will snow soon.”
She looked to the sky, frowning. “How can you tell?”
“Can you not smell the snow in the air?”
“Nope.” She sniffed. When she stood, she hopped up and down. “What? It wakes me and helps warm me up.”
“Take care of your womanly needs and then we shall depart.”
“I’ll be fast.” Her stomach rumbled but she did not complain, merely walked through the trees to the water.
All morning they walked, and Ashley did not complain once, Christian was proud of her for keeping pace and not bellowing at him. He liked being close to her, hearing her voice.
“You said you did not like to be outside.”
She tripped over a limb, and he led her to a flat rock, where he pulled off her boot.
“What are you doing?”
“You are cold. I am warming your toes. Er…”
“Socks.” She wiggled her toes. “At…home, I wear a lot of dark colors, so on my feet…where no one sees, I like bright colors.”
He had seen such socks before. Lucy had been making them. After running out of people to wear her scarves and hats, she had turned to making socks.
“You asked about being outside. I hate the outdoors, but I live in a large city and am used to walking long distances, though I much prefer to take…a carriage when possible.”
Christian thought Ashley might tell him about cars, but thus far she had not told him she was from the future. Mayhap he would try again.
“You said you are from America?”
She fluttered her eyes at him, and he had the feeling she was used to men doing her bidding.
“Did I? No, I meant…another country.”
“What country?”
What would she say? And why did he ask? For if she told him, he would be bound to tell her he knew other future girls, which he did not wish to do. Not yet.
“I’m from Greece.”
