Olivia gasped; no doubt angry at being spoken about as though she were a piece of property to be owned.
But Alexander was too distracted to contradict the lout. Too shocked at the feeling of desire that crashed into him. Not just the lust that he was coming to expect in her vicinity. But a desire to have her belong to him. And he, her.
He watched in silence as the man stumbled away.
“I don’t think they’re coming, Alexander,” Olivia’s soft voice broke the stilted silence.
“No, I don’t think they are.”
“So – should we go home?”
Home.
It sounded right. It sounded wonderful. Olivia and him. Going home together. Sharing a carriage, sharing a bed…
Alexander pulled out the flask and finished the contents in one, giant gulp.
He’d come out here thinking he would save Jane Darington from trouble. He hadn’t realised that the one who needed saving was him.
Olivia sat backagainst the plush cushion of Alexander’s carriage and let out a sigh.
“Damn and blast,” she whispered softly.
“Tut, tut, my beauty. Ladies surely do no swear.”
Alexander’s voice from across the carriage caused the most delicious of shivers to run down her back.
Olivia swallowed and turned her head to glare at him.
“We’ve utterly failed you know. This entire evening was a waste of time.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said cryptically. “I found it – informative.”
The look in his eyes heated the very blood in Olivia’s veins.
Oh, Lord. This was not good. Not at all.
Her heart was thudding most oddly, and Olivia had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She was starting to genuinely fear that what she felt for this man wasn’t ever going to go away.
As Olivia turned her head away, Alexander reached out and grasped her chin, pulling her face back around to face him.
She felt the impact of his touch right down to her freezing toes.
“You look incredible,” he said simply. “I don’t think I told you that.”
Olivia didn’t want to be thrilled at this simplest of gestures. But she was. And she knew then; she was lost.
Six
“What are you doing?”Olivia pulled her face from his gentle grip, but he merely reached out and clasped her hand instead.
It probably wasn’t a good thing that he noticed how perfectly her hand fit in his, but he was starting to think he was doing them both an injustice.
Why fight something that felt more and more right by the second?
He’d agreed to wait another thirty minutes but only if she agreed to warm up in the carriage. The coachman had been sent off to find an inn and a hot toddy for himself. Alexander had told him to return in an hour. And so, he and Olivia were alone. He knew he shouldn’t be in here with her. Just as he knew he shouldn’t be thinking of all the delicious ways he could warm her up. He was very close to being besotted by her. Her! Olivia Darington. The shrew.
