The dinner party Callie and her husband had held the previous week had been rather large. Jo had not supposed Decker had taken notice of her at all. They had not been seated near to each other. The knowledge he had been watching her filled Jo with warmth.
And with something else, too…
She cleared her throat. “The pineapple cream ice was splendid.”
He gave her a slow, deliberate grin that turned her insides into mush. “Take your pick, my dear. Or try them all.”
Each bowl was neatly labeled with the flavor it contained. She read them: cucumber, almond, cherry, orange flower water, and pineapple. Each one sounded equally delicious. In truth, cream ices were one of Jo’s weaknesses. She had yet to discover a flavor she did not enjoy.
“Which do you recommend?” she asked, that troubling heat inside her continuing to glow.
She was beginning to fear Mr. Elijah Decker was one of her weaknesses as well. He was certainly every bit as tempting as cream ice.
“I like the orange flower water myself,” he said.
“I shall try that one first, then,” she decided, selecting a bowl containing cream ice molded into miniature blossoms.
The first cold, creamy spoonful on her tongue was decadent and delicious. Floral with a hint of rich citrus, ending on a note of bitterness that seemed somehow perfect.
“What do you reckon?” he queried, selecting a bowl for himself as well.
She swallowed the tart confection. “It is every bit as splendid as pineapple.”
If being alone with Elijah Decker at his home had seemed surreal, eating cream ices with him in his dining room felt like the sort of silly dream she would have in the morning, when she was half-asleep and half-awake. The sort that made no sense and brought together the most ludicrous combinations. Once, she had dreamt she had commissioned a wardrobe made entirely of crustaceans.
Jo could not stifle her chuckle at the memory.
“Share the joke if you please,” he ordered.
“It is far too ridiculous to share,” she denied.
“Nonsense.” He pinned her with that bright stare, his eyes narrowing. “You cannot laugh and then refuse to tell me the reason why. It is against the rules.”
“I thought you said rules were are all quite boring and deserve to be broken thoroughly and often,” she could not resist pointing out.
“Saucy minx. My rules are not boring at all.” He winked. “Go on, then. Tell me or I shall have the servants come and whisk away the rest of the cream ices before you can sample them.”
“Villainy!” she exclaimed in mock horror.
He laughed, that wonderful mouth of his dipping into a smile that hit her in the heart. Sinfully handsome when he was serious, a laughing Decker wasirresistible. For a moment, she laughed along with him, enjoying their lighthearted banter.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I am deadly serious about the cream ices. Tell me or they shall be banished.”
He was impossible.
Her heart gave a pang.
The laughter fled her. “Very well. I shall tell you, but you must promise me you will not share it with another soul.”
He pressed a hand over his heart. “I vow to take it to my grave. Now, do tell me what it is that makes Lady Jo Danvers smile.”
Cream ice, baby animals, good books, comfortable shoes, handsome hats, her family and friends, and now one more to add to the list:him. But if Jo had learned anything in the last few days, it was that creating lists of any sort was an endeavor she ought to avoid in the future.
“I was thinking of a nonsensical dream I had, if you must know,” she began, feeling foolish but carrying on anyway. “I dreamt I had commissioned an entire wardrobe made of crustaceans. The worst of it was they were all living, and there was a lobster that was pinching me in the side. When I woke up, I realized I had fallen asleep with a book in my bed, and the corner of it had been digging into me in my slumber.”
He chuckled. “I see the levity. You, my dear, have an utterly ridiculous imagination. I shan’t ask you why you were thinking of such a dream in the midst of sampling cream ices.”
Her lips twitched. “Thank you. A lady cannot reveal all her secrets in one night, you know.”
