And as she packed up the valise, she found herself dwelling on well-practiced self-recriminations. Because she’d left her mother all alone to take the brunt of her father’s wrath. Living under her father’s thumb, her mother hadn’t many friends, not close ones, anyhow. She, Goldie, and her mother had kept one another company. Her mother would have no one. Nia wished she could have told her goodbye—and yet, that would have been impossible. Because, ultimately, her mother always yielded to her father. The reminders swept her into a vicious circle of guilt.
A knock sounded and Nia unlocked the door. It was time to get on the road again.
“You’re ready?” Jasper’s gaze flicked around the room, and when she nodded, he took the valise out of her hand and gestured for her to precede him.
Everything her father had said about the Piccadilly Player would have her believe he would be the last person in the world she could depend on and trust. Her father had also disapproved of the Earl of Standish, and yet Goldie had married him.
He’d selected Dewberry as an appropriate husband for her.
Had her father ever been honest about anything?
Nia descended the staircase with Jasper close behind and felt several curious gazes from the patrons in the busy taproom. They quickly returned their attention to their own business, however, as she and Jasper exited to the yard.
In the short time she’d been inside, clouds had gathered in the sky.
It would rain, no doubt. She only hoped it wasn’t a deluge that would muck up the roads. More than once while traveling in her father’s carriage, they’d been delayed by a broken wheel or a horse who’d thrown a shoe.
“Another storm is coming,” Nia commented. Both she and Jasper had been unusually quiet, and she was wondering if he regretted becoming involved in her escape. Why wouldn’t he? She’d put him in practically the same circumstances she’d run from herself—an unwanted marriage.
And that wasn’t fair at all!
As they walked along a short fence to avoid the mud between the inn and their carriage, Nia was on the verge of telling him that she could catch the mail coach… that he ought to return to London. But she didn’t get the chance, distracted as she was when a farmer’s cart pulled into the yard.
Upon catching a glimpse of the driver and his passenger, Nia gasped, and then nearly tripped over her own feet. “Oh no!”
Jasper clutched her elbow, his air of nonchalance immediately replaced with raised senses. “You know them?” he asked softly.
"They work for my father.” Nia ducked behind Jasper's tall and sturdy form, but other than making herself as small as possible, she had no place to hide. Furthermore, she’d only draw attention to herself if she turned around to walk back to the inn.
“Don't panic.” The confidence in his voice kept her from doing just that. It also kept her from resisting when he gripped her by the waist and walked her backward into the fence.
"What are –?"
“Just go along with this,” he cut her off just before his mouth descended on hers.
Shocked, Nia raised her hands to push him away. He released her mouth for just a second.
“They can’t see you this way,” he growled, and she realized that he was not, in fact, overset with passion for her. He was hiding her. “They’ll think we’re newlyweds...”
And then his mouth was on hers again.
It was a scandalous act, whether in public or private. But this was a stop on the road between London and Gretna Green. Perhaps it was common for couples who were on their way to eloping.
So rather than fight this, she tightened her fists on his collar and held on with all her might. Partly, she’d convince herself later, to make the embrace appear more convincing, but also because her knees threatened to give out on her.
Nia had never been kissed—not really.
When Lord Rupert had attempted to corner her, she’d ducked away, reminding him that she was a proper lady. The very next morning, he had gone to her father and the two of them had settled on a mutually beneficial marriage contract. That was what Rupert had told her, anyway, the next day when he dropped to one knee and made a very formal proposal.
Mutually beneficial? Ha! Wiser now, she realized that she had not been considered in this equation. He’d meant beneficial for him and her father.
But Rupert was but a distant memory. More distant with each passing second.
Because she was losing herself in the unexpected intimacy of having Jasper’s mouth on hers, his arms holding her tight, and his body flush against hers.
What had begun as a gentle, searching sort of kiss deepened, and thoughts of anyone but Jasper fled.
Heated tingles slid down her spine, imprinting Japer on her every thought even as the kiss scrambled them.
