“What is going on?”
She folded her arms. “There is nothing going on.”
He pulled her to the edge of her seat, so their faces were only inches apart.
“Tell me, Ruby.”
“N-Nothing is going on. Release me.”
“You are not a very good liar, Miss Knight. Your breathing is rapid and you will not meet my eye.”
He traced a finger down her check, and Ruby fought the shudder, it felt so good. She wanted to fall forward into his arms.
“Do you remember what I said the last time we kissed, Ruby?”
She gave a jerky nod. “We cannot do that. It is not right.”
“Very likely you are right, but it does not mean I don’t want to.”
She loathed crying. Her mother had cried constantly—in fact, most days—and yet in that moment, the desperation inside her had tears falling again.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Don’t cry.”
He pulled her closer. So close that her face was now pressed into that hard wall of his chest. It was a wonderful place to be.
“Please let me go.”
“I don’t want to.”
“And yet we both know you have to.”
She felt the brush of his lips in her hair, and then he eased her back into the seat and settled in his. His eyes locked on her. She could feel the intensity even though she was looking at her hands.
“I loathe weeping,” she whispered.
“Yes, it makes you feel quite horrible. Scratchy eyes, sore head. Your nose runs.”
She looked at him.
“I know what it feels like to cry, Ruby, and have done so many times in my life. It does not make me less of a man to admit that.”
Her father would never have shown such a weakness. Nor her brothers, who were molded exactly like he was. Except Adam, of course, and perhaps Ezekiel.
“I’m sorry something in your life made you cry, Mr. Howarth.”
He really did have a wonderful smile even with those bruises. Dared she ask how he got them now?
“We get through life experiencing things that make us who we are, Ruby. Those experiences cannot all be happy or exciting; some are sad and terrifying. But I look at those times as moments to make me realize how lucky I am.”
She would not cry again. Absolutely would not weep pathetically over those words. No one in her life had ever spoken in such a way before.
“Th-That is a wonderful way of putting things.”
She would have to leave London. She and Adam would be safe then, as would those she cared for. Ella and her father being two of them. The thought of not seeing this man again made her chest ache.
“Thank you. The experiences in my life have taught me many things.”
The carriage rolled along for a few minutes before he spoke again.
