“I want to take you somewhere,” he murmured.
“Where?” she asked dazedly.
“Outside of London. According to Cornish, I own a host of properties in the countryside.”
She tried to wrest her senses from the grip of wanting. From her husband’s animal magnetism.
“Buying estates was a hobby of yours,” she managed. “You’ve collected so many that we haven’t stayed at half of them.”
“That’s one hell of a hobby.” Smiling wryly, he said, “What about the hunting lodge in Hertfordshire? Have you been?”
She recalled the cozy, Tudor-style manor. “Yes, I visited several times to oversee its refurbishment. We kept saying that we would bring the children, but there never seemed to be the time.”
“For this trip, I’d like to take you alone. We’ll go for a few days and have privacy to get reacquainted. The children will be fine here under Miss Thornton’s capable watch.”
I’ll be alone with Adam. In the country. No distractions, just him…and me.
Her insides quivering like an aspic, she said, “What about your injury? I’m not sure you ought to be travelling—”
“My wound is fine, sweetheart. But I have other aches that only time alone with my wife can heal.” He took her hand in his. “What do you say, Gabby? Will you go on this journey with me? Give us a chance to get to know one another again, as we are now?”
Reasons not to go burst through her head like released doves. The children, his health, her father…and so on and so forth. Yet looking into the dark mirror of her husband’s eyes, she saw them for what they were: excuses.
Excuses because she was afraid of the burgeoning intimacy between them, the changes that were exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Changes that threatened to tear down the walls of the past. The walls that had felt safe, yes, but that had also established a distance between them. Was she ready to get to know her husband without the security of retreat?
After Adam’s close brush with death and the ensuing weeks of uncertainty, she realized she was tired of being afraid. Tired of hiding. Whatever lay in the journey ahead, she would explore it…by her husband’s side.
“Yes,” she said, her voice trembling. “I want to go with you.”
Blatant approval blazed in his eyes. He brought her hand to his lips, and her entire being shivered with anticipation.
“I’ll make the arrangements,” he said. “We’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”
20
After an extended farewellwith the children, Adam whisked his wife off two mornings later. He’d chosen the hunting lodge in Hertfordshire because it offered both proximity to and seclusion from London. He’d come to see that his amnesia was not the only barrier between him and Gabby. He didn’t fully understand the workings of his marriage, and he wanted this time alone with her so that they could get reacquainted without the distractions of everyday life.
Or, in truth, they might be getting acquainted for the first time.
Looking at his wife seated on the opposite side of the carriage, Adam felt a hot stirring that wasn’t just about lust. Beneath her brown velvet toque, her hair was an autumn blaze in the sunlight. Knowing the bounty that lay beneath her fussy, frilly russet carriage dress necessitated a discreet adjustment of his trousers to ease the tightness, but his attraction to her was more than physical.
She was nibbling on her bottom lip as she looked out the window, watching the sharp angles of the city fade to the flowing curves of the countryside. Thus far during the trip, she’d assiduously avoided his gaze. Yet he could sense her mood, that heady mix of uncertainty and anticipation, and it filled him with equal parts of tenderness and lust.
How a woman could be so unaware of her beauty and worth was beyond him. He had no clue why the old Adam Garrity had eschewed romantic notions. Yet when Gabby spoke of his old self, it was always with pride and adoration, to the point where he sometimes felt jealous…of himself.
Ridiculous, but there it was.
Hewas her husband now, and he wanted her to see him for who he was. To want him as a woman wants a man…and to fall in love with him. The way she’d grabbed hold of his heart since he’d awakened.
Three weeks into this marriage and he was already certain that he had the wife of his dreams. He didn’t have to know the past to know that he wanted her. And he hadn’t even kissed her yet. He might not remember who he’d been, but he did know himself now. The soul-deep hunger and possessiveness he felt for the woman across from him. He was driven and ambitious; his natural tendency was to take command. When he wanted something, he went after it.
He wanted his wife. More than anything.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked.
Gabby’s gaze flew to his. “Oh…I was, um, thinking of Fiona and Max. I hope that they won’t miss us too much.” Her smile was rueful. “And that they won’t run amok while we’re gone.”
“They gave me their word they would behave.”
