Andrews briskly followed his lady and closed the door as if on purpose. Alone with Faith, Logan could barely resist the urge to come toward her. He needn’t, though, because as soon as the door handle clicked, Faith came to him.
She was on him instantly, kissing him as her tongue searched his mouth. He was aroused immediately, though the urgency ofher kisses made him wary. Placing his hands on her upper arms, he pushed her back slightly.
“Faith?”
She shook her head.
“I can’t bear this,” she said, husky. “It’s too much to be constantly tormented.”
She sought his mouth again, but he resisted, much to his own displeasure.
“Well, it can’t happen here.”
“It can’t happen anywhere. It can’t happen at all,” she pouted as she kissed him.
Logan knew. He felt the same way, but this was madness. They couldn’t possibly be caught in one another’s arms in her family’s library. There would be consequences that neither of them were prepared for, so he pulled back.
“Faith, wait,” he tried, and to his dismay, she obeyed.
In fact, she moved entirely out of his reach. Wrapping herself in her arms, she stopped several feet away. Belle returned then, and judging by the expression on her face, it seemed she wasn’t very pleased either.
“Well, Harris, I’ve told the cook you were staying for dinner,” she said, approaching her desk.
“Ah, I actually cannot—”
“It will be no trouble,” Belle said, ignoring him. “I just saw Graham in the hallway and told him you were here. He mentioned something about a confectionary nightmare he wanted to discuss with you?”
Logan nearly began to argue with the old woman, but the confectionary nightmare was not an issue he could just brush aside. Evidently, he had business to tend to. With a passing glance at Faith’s back, he nodded.
“Very well. If you’ll excuse me.”
Unchanneled angst and unresolved passion made Logan nearly unfit to be in polite company for the rest of the afternoon. Thankfully, Graham was in an equally poor mood as they discussed their investment in a confectionary factory in Glasgow. One of the new ovens built for the space had become too hot, and a fire had broken out. No one was harmed, but a prominent building corner had been burnt, and the factory was compromised. It would take weeks to fix and much money, but Logan could barely focus on that.
When dinner was served, he sat across the table from Faith, who, by chance or circumstance, had worn a gown with a particularly low neckline. For an hour and a half, he had to converse politely with everyone, doing his best to ignore the growing need to have her.
By the time the final course was served, Logan could no longer stand it. Faith served herself a honey mousse that had been invented by the Lismore cook. He felt his throat dry as she brought up the silver utensil, parting her lips to consume it.
Though he had been in an actual war, this was torture.
After dinner, he made his goodbyes to the family. Faith was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she had decided to end this ridiculous attempt at an affair before it had even begun. He left the house, heading toward the stables. A young stable hand sat on a stool in the corner, his arms folded across his chest and his cap pulled down over his eyes, sleeping soundly. Logan didn’t bother to wake him. Upon reaching his horse’s stall, however, Faith appeared.
“Hello,” she said softly, and it took every ounce of strength in Logan not to reach for her.
Instead, he simply stared. That seemed to make her uncomfortable, for she began to shift from side to side.
“More like goodbye, isn’t it?” he said after a moment, fixing his horse’s saddle.
It pained him to see the disappointment in her green eyes.
“Is that the way of it then? It’s too difficult?” she asked as he pulled his horse out. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any stable hands around. “We’re to give up before we even start?”
“What would you have us do?” he asked, letting his aggravation sound. “I can’t bloody well take you up against a stable wall, can I?”
The sting of his too-honest words caused Faith’s mouth to drop open, and he felt like an ass. She certainly didn’t deserve to be spoken to so harshly. She swallowed and shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said, disgusted with his reaction. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“Nor do I.”
