“What was your point?” she asked as she cut up some of the roasted chicken on her plate to eat.
“This man has made you live in fear whilst you were under his roof, I will not let him make you live in fear whilst you are undermyroof. Oh no, that I cannot accept at all,” he said, suddenly feeling animated. Perhaps it was down to the claret, or the effect of seeing that small smile break through on her cheeks, but he was feeling playful.
“What do you intend to do about it?” she asked, looking up with her brows knitted together.
“Well, perhaps I should charge myself with the responsibility of being your entertainer as well as your host for the time being?” he asked, gesturing to himself.
“You would do that?” she asked.
“Of course. I saw last night when I met you, dancing with you, that a smile suits you infinitely more than this fear you wear about you, like a cape from your shoulders, as you so describe it,” he said, motioning to her. “Oh no, we need to see a smile there again.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and pointed to her face, seeing the way she had flattened her lips together, as though teasing him, denying him the very smile he wanted to see.
“How do you intend to accomplish that?” she asked, lifting her chin in defiance.
“A game!”
“A game?” she asked.
“Yes. Riddles,” he said, alighting on the perfect idea.
“Oh, you have picked the worst partner for this game,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “I am dreadful at them. You’ll win very quickly.”
“Then it looks like I’ve picked a good partner. I do like to win,” he said, jesting and watching as a smile finally broke through on her lips. Feeling the jolt that had occurred in his stomach as with every other time he had seen her smile, he decided it was time to push quickly on. “I will go first, here is your riddle for you. I have hands, but no feet. I make a noise but say no words and you look at me constantly. You will hear me of every second, of every minute, of every day. What am I?”
He thought he had offered her an easy one at first, though she screwed up her face as she thought, making her small nose even cuter to his mind. “Too difficult?” he asked with a laugh.
“Give me a clue,” she pleaded.
“Very well.” He looked away from her, toward the grandfather clock at the far end of the room. She had to follow his gaze a couple of times before she sighed in realization.
“A clock,” she said.
“Well done, see? Not so bad at this game after all. Your turn.”
“Right, let me think…” she paused and looked up at the ceiling before lowering her gaze back to his. “I can be broken, yet I can still go on beating after that. I can be given to another, though easily lost. What am I?”
“It is a heart,” he said, smiling.
“You are too quick!” she said, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table. “How is anyone supposed to beat you at this game?”
“Ask Diana, she will confirm I was the undisputed champion when we were children,” he said with a laugh. “Going on your theme, I have a final one for you. I can be given as a sign of love, yet I can also be the giver of life. What am I?”
As he waited for her to answer, he was aware how close they had come, leaning toward one another on the table.
“I cannot answer it,” she said whispering, her eyes looking between his. He found they had completely forgotten their food now, both too absorbed with staring at one another, wrapped up in their game.
“The answer…is a kiss,” he said simply, watching as her eyes darted down to his lips. “The kiss of life, or a lover’s kiss.”
The idea of what it could be like to kiss Lady Ridlington took over him. He didn’t doubt it could be the finest kiss he’d ever had, someone who made this fluttering feeling tremble within his stomach could certainly have power in such a kiss.
What am I doing?
Chapter 10
This…is dangerous territory!
Phoebe snapped her gaze away from Hayward’s lips and looked up to his eyes. She had actually been thinking about what it would be like to kiss him. There was so much that was wrong in the moment. She was thinking of kissing a Duke! The very Duke that was hiding her from her husband and she was living with whilst she was pretending to be his cousin.
He seemed to be looking at her in exactly the same way, the curious idea of what it could be like, as his eyes dipped down to her lips.
