It was Blake’s idea to eat outdoors. It reminded her of childhood picnics before mud overtook everything. The drizzle had stopped, and the weeds were long enough to serve as a barrier between blanket and mud.
‘Why aren’t you eating?’ she asked when she noticed Harlan lying back watching her.
‘I’ve had enough.’
She tilted her head. ‘Liar. You should be eating more than me to get your strength back.’
He tucked his hands under his head. ‘I don’t want you to go.’
Dread pooled in her stomach. They had an hour at best before they had to leave. ‘Well, it’ll be much quieter here without me, and you’ve made it perfectly clear in the past that you prefer your own company.’
He sat up, watching her with a serious expression. ‘That was true once. Now I find myself seeking out your incessant talking and strong opinions about the world.’
‘Incessant talking?’ She flicked his leg. ‘If you prefer your women without opinions, then you chose from the wrong borough. We merchants hold very strong opinions about everything.’
He smirked. ‘I don’t think it was much of a choice. One meeting and you were under my skin.’
Her brow creased with disapproval. ‘You make me sound like a parasite.’
‘A welcomed parasite.’
She laughed. ‘Oh, the poetry from your mouth.’
He was smiling too, and she would have done anything to make that smile last a little longer.
‘If it’s poems you want,’ he said, ‘then you definitely chose from the right borough. You just chose the wrong man.’
‘Well, who would you recommend instead?’
‘For sonnets?’
She nodded.
‘Prince Borin,’ he said without hesitation. ‘I’ll put in a good word for you.’
She scrunched her nose up and looked over at the grazing horse. ‘What if I were to stay here with you?’
Harlan’s smile faded. ‘What?’
‘There’s a shipment arriving in four days. That would give us three whole days together.’
He rested his arms on his knees. ‘Your mother would never allow it.’
‘The lectures upon my returnwouldbe relentless, but it’s difficult for her to tell me no from the other side of the wall.’
‘And what of your reputation?’
She drew a breath. ‘My reputation isn’t that great anyway. Rumour has it I’m an incessant talker with strong opinions.’
He worked hard to suppress a grin. ‘Three days of you. Three daysinsideyou. I might struggle to let you leave at the end.’
‘You’re being very presumptuous about how we’ll spend the time.’ She looked down at her lap. ‘We’re both sensible people capable of enjoying time together and parting amicably. We get whatever this is out of our systems and move on with our lives.’ That last part stuck in her throat.
He watched her intently. ‘Is that what you want?’
‘What we want and what we get are two very different things.’
He thought on that for a moment. ‘Logic suggests that the more time we spend together, the higher the chance of forming an attachment.’
