“Oh, please!” Alice’s exclamation was muffled as she bent over to scoop up Knightly, who followed her around like a shadow. “It’s hardly going to rain”—she brought the ginger kitten to her face—“is it, my good sir?”
It was an absurd gesture, speaking to the cat as if he were part of the conversation. It was also ridiculously adorable, and Ethan had to force his lips from lifting into a smile.
“Give him a kiss goodbye and let’s be on with it.” His gruffness was returning. How was it possible for a small slip of a woman to have such a profound effect on him?
While gathering his jacket, spade, and sacking, he observed Alice pepper the cat with kisses and bury her face in his soft fur. It was rather sweet until she began telling Knightly to be a good boy while she was away, at which point Ethan turned and strode out the door, assuming she would soon follow.
Within fifteen minutes, they were trudging through the woods and it was both dark and cold. While Ethan usually loved being outdoors, this early March day was not agreeing with him, and he was getting grumpier by the minute as they traveled deeper to find the plant they were after.
Able to read his irritation, Alice appeared to be growing fidgety the longer they walked. Distractedly picking at the fingers of her gloves, she stumbled over a tree root. Ethan instinctively reached out to catch her before she could topple over in her now twisted skirts, cursing as she crashed into him.
Her body was now fully plastered against his own with his arms firmly bracing her body to keep them upright. This was exactly the kind of interaction Ethan had been trying to avoid—and now here he was, unconsciously retaining the knowledge that Alice fit perfectly within the circumference of his hold, memorizing how she felt in the shelter of his arms.
It was more than he could handle, and he stood her up abruptly, placing his hands around her upper arms and pushingher away from him. He needed to gain enough distance between them to let his mind retake control of his body, which was decidedly reacting to the feel of her own.
“My . . . my apologies. I didn’t mean to be so clumsy.”
Ethan frowned as he watched her cheeks color and lips tremble. It was entirely too becoming, and he could not allow himself to be beguiled by her.
“Just be mindful of where you’re walking—we’re going to need to get closer to the estate’s edge and the path through here isn’t always smooth.”
He kept a swift pace, every fiber of his being needing this endeavor to wrap up as quickly as possible. Ethan had no idea how over the past weeks Miss Pembroke had gone from being the cause of his problems and reinforcement of all he was choosing to leave behind, to the woman ceaselessly occupying his thoughts. It was maddening. He felt like he was losing his grasp on all which surrounded him.
The problem was that he’d spent too much time with her—worked beside her too closely. In that time he’d seen glimpses of the woman behind the mask of politeness and propriety she wore as if it could protect her. He’d seen the more gentle and caring side of her in how she effortlessly bestowed her love on Tobias and Knightly, her thoughtfulness in extending the kitchen garden for the staff, and he’d seen her fierceness on the occasions she corralled the courage to utilize it.
After another half hour had passed with no sight of the wood anemone Alice sought, Ethan increased his pace in frustration. But when he heard Alice panting behind him, struggling to keep up with his fast clip, he paused to give her a moment to regain her breath. Even if he wished to be free of her presence, he wasn’t about to make her suffer. After all, she had no idea she was driving him mad simply by existing.
“I really didn’t think we’d need to venture this far, I’m not sure where they are hiding,” Alice chattered nervously, picking up on the tension radiating from him. “I was assured that wood anemone grew here.”
As she finished speaking, thunder rumbled in the distance and Alice visibly winced. “I’m sorry—you clearly don’t wish to be here, and the weather might be about to turn.” Ethan simply grunted. “Maybe we should go back.”
It was the precise moment ‘go back’ was uttered that the sky opened up. Immediately drenched, even beneath the cover of the trees, Miss Pembroke looked at him with wide eyes before turning around as if to make her way back toward the main house.
“Oh no you don’t,” Ethan called, reaching out and grabbing her arm. “This was your grand idea, and we’re already out here, so I’m not about to quit now. We’re finishing this today.”
Ethan wasn’t sure if it was his tone or aggressive grip; nevertheless, Alice finally broke, unleashing the fierceness he knew she possessed deep within.
“Enough! I’m not sure exactly what it is that I’ve done to bother you so, but I’m done tiptoeing around you and trying to appease you.” She strode up to him and pushed her finger into his chest. Her eyes sparked with frustration, making them shine even more brightly—their inescapable beauty irrationally outraging Ethan even further at his inability tonotnotice such things.
She shivered with cold from the steady rain but continued berating him none-the-less. “I’m sorry that I dragged you out here today, but I had no notion it was going to storm. Stop being so stubborn and let’s get back so we can warm up. I can get Matthias or David to help me another day. There is no point in suffering when you clearly don’t want to be here!”
Her temper ignited his own, and Ethan let out a frustrated huff. “No—I don’t want to be here, but here is where we are. Even though I warned you it was indeed going to storm and a storm this time of year is entirely predictable.” He shoved his sopping hair out of his eyes, flinging a stream of droplets to spray over Alice’s face. “There is no way I’m giving up now. I won’t allow this suffering to be for nothing. We’re continuing until we find your blasted plant!”
“Fine!” Alice yelled, swiping at her drenched face. “Proceed so we can get this over with.”
She marched on ahead of him, the brim of her bonnet sagging and shapeless under the relentless rainfall. Ethan followed behind her silently, still steaming inside. It was another ten miserable minutes before Alice stopped abruptly, almost causing him to stumble into her.
“There,” she said, pointing across a small ravine to where low green bushes with star-shaped white flowers grew. “I have no idea how we’ll get over there, but I’m almost certain those are wood anemone.”
Both her pelisse and the gown beneath were plastered to her shivering body, her lips trembling. With a start, Ethan realized how foolish he’d been to keep them out in such conditions. Once again, his stubborn nature had won out over common sense as he grasped for something he could control, which always seemed lost in her presence.
Assessing the landscape, he looked for a way to quickly get to the plants. The ravine was shallow, but it was a steep drop. Going around would be the safest option; however, it stretched as far as Ethan could see through the downpour, and at this point, speed was to be prioritized over ease. It was imperative they get warm before they became ill from the elements. There was nothing else for it, he’d have to descend the ravine and climb up the other side.
Ethan began to peel his sodden jacket off his arms, the saturated material only weighing him down and restricting his mobility.
“What are you doing?” Miss Pembroke asked, eyes widened in alarm. But he noticed she was tracing the contours of his chest as the soaked linen of his shirt hid nothing from view.
“I’m going down, it’s the fastest way to reach the wood anemone. Then we can get out of here.”
