He jerked back to reality and smiled at her. “Katherine. Shall we walk together, since we are clearly the earliest risers of our little group?”
He expected her to hesitate, just as she had every other time he’d asked her a question like this. But this time, she didn’t. She didn’t even look irritated as she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Lead the way,” she said.
He somehow forced himself to do so, guiding them farther into the garden, past the maze of hedges, onto the long expanse of grass that would eventually lead to the woods and beyond.
They were quiet at first. Robert had never liked the quiet overly much. With strangers, at least, he tended to fill the silence with chatter. He was good at entertaining with his wit, as exhausting as that could sometimes be.
But as they walked, he didn’t feel that pull to talk that he often did. Being quiet with Katherine was actually…comfortingin some way.
“You know, you do not to seem to be the kind of man who is early to rise,” she said after they’d walked for a while.
He found himself laughing and shot her a look. “Depends upon what I amrisingfor.”
She shook her head, and to his surprise, she disengaged her arm from his and turned to face him. “You are amusing, as you know. But you deflect with flirtation and sex so easily.”
He shrugged. “It is the best way.”
She held his stare for what felt like a very long moment, and then she sighed softly. “Roseford, I poured my heart out to you last night. I told you things I have never repeated to another soul on this earth, despite my misgivings about you. Can you not tell meanythingreal about yourself?”
He gaped at her quiet, calm question, and her statement that what she’d told him about her husband was a secret she had kept inside all this time. That meant something. He knew it did.
“You are so direct,” he said.
She smiled a little, and this time it was she who flirted. “You like it, I think.”
Her teasing, so gently placed in the midst of her serious query, did its job. He softened toward her, even if he didn’t wish to. What harm could there be in talking to her a little? He’d already accidentally done so when they spoke about his strained relationship with his friends. She hadn’t held that over his head.
His sleeping schedule was certainly not so fraught as the other topic.
“I admit there are many mornings I’ve spent snoring in my bed far too late. A late night can be hard to overcome, and I’ve had many of those.”
She tilted her head. “Like last night.”
He nodded. “Yes. But it was worth any exhaustion I might experience today. Would you agree?”
Her cheeks brightened again, but she was smiling as she dropped her gaze. “I would, yes.”
He took her arm again and they began to walk a second time. “I would not say I woke early today, though. In fact, I couldn’t sleep much last night after you left.” He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
She jerked her gaze to him in surprise. He couldn’t blame her. Making such a confession was a surprise to him, as well. She brought out such honesty in him.
“You couldn’t?” she asked, breathless. “I’m surprised to hear that. I didn’t think I would matter much to you.”
“No?” He stopped again.
She faced him slowly. “Please don’t play a game with me. I know you’ve had a great many women. You’ll forget me before tomorrow. Just as you have in the past.”
He wrinkled his brow at the odd turn of phrase. “You are so certain?”
“Yes.” She said it softly, but firmly. There was no doubt she meant it not as a flirtation or a challenge, but as a statement of what she believed was fact.
And it would have been a fact not so long ago. Now it felt…different. She felt different.
He shook his head. “I have always sought pleasure, that is true. At the expense of all else, some would say.”
“Why?”
He blinked at her. She was staring at him evenly, her gaze clear and wide. “Why?” he repeated in surprise. He had not expected the question. Almost couldn’t fathom giving her the answer.
