“It is my opinion that any man in this world should help a woman feel safe. Nothing else,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper.
“How strange,” she said, looking up to him. “I feel I should be able to look after myself, not rely on a man for that purpose.”
“I agree that every woman should have that confidence,” he said, nodding, “but every man out there should offer protection anyway. Any man that doesn’t, is no gentleman to my mind.”
Lady Ridlington said nothing in reply, though she looked up at him, those green eyes unblinking for a minute. He hadn’t noticed he had moved so close toward her at first. Each of them had a hand still on the racking, and with how near he had moved, their hands were mere inches apart.
“How odd,” she said, her lips barely moving with the words. His eyes darted down to those lips before looking up at her eyes again.
“What is?”
“That there are not more men that think like you,” she said, smiling sadly before she looked down, staring somewhere in the center of his chest. With the feel of her gaze gone, he longed to have it back. “I…I should go,” she said, stepping up away from her.
“What? Go now?” he asked, startled. It would be the second time she had ran from him since she had arrived in the house. The first day he hadn’t minded too much, he had got carried away, thinking of what it would be like to kiss her. Now though, it was breaking this tender moment between the two of them.
“Yes, I need to…” she gestured behind herself, as though looking for an excuse.
“Search for an excuse to run from me?” he asked.
Her gaze snapped up to his, clearly concerned at being caught out before she turned and run, letting out a kind of exasperated sigh. He let her go for a minute before this burning need to be back by her side crept into him.
I’m not letting her run again.
* * *
Phoebe realized Hayward was following her when she was barely three steps away from the sports room.
“What are you doing?” she cried, staring back behind her.
“What does it look like I’m doing? Stopping you from running away.”
“Ever considered I am running for a reason?” she asked tartly before diving to the side in the corridor. The movement made Hayward pick up the pace and she hurried away, toward the staircase, picking up her skirt to allow her to run.
“What would the reason be?” he called after her. He took the steps two at a time, even three at a time and managed to cut her off easily in the middle of the staircase. Where it turned at a ninety-degree angle, levelling off on a small landing, he leaned on the banister, blocking her path and bringing her to a halt.
“Your Grace, must you really ask me that?” she asked, feeling her heart thud harder at his words.
Surely, he noticed it!
Twice now she had been in his company and so close toward him thatthiscould hardly be described as an acquaintance. No, not with the words he was uttering, words of promising to keep her safe, talking of her protection, and then those blue eyes of his…that kept looking back down to her lips. He could hardly not be aware he was doing it, surely?
“Hmm, I must,” he said, clearly still jesting as he put upon a pained expression.
“You are not helping me right now.”
“And you have ran away from me twice this week,” he said, gesturing to her. “I wish to know why I am prompting my guest to run away from me.”
“I am not running away from you exactly,” she said, struggling to come up with a better excuse. In truth, she didn’t want to run away from him. She liked him. She liked his jests, his easy manner, and how easily he could make her smile. What she had to run away from was whatever it was that she was feeling for him.
Things are already complicated enough as it is without me pondering on that thought any longer.
“Really?” he asked. “The last two days I am sure you have been avoiding me.”
“I have simply been giving you space in your own house.”
“By even avoiding having breakfast with me in the morning?” he asked, looking a little hurt at the idea.
“Did that upset you?” she asked.
