“I should go up,” Adelaide said as they stepped into the house. “We have a few hours before supper preparations will have to be made.”
“Yes, I promised Morgan I would join him for a game of billiards,” Lizzie said.
“Is he teaching you to play?” Aurora asked with a smile.
Lizzie’s cheeks turned almost plum. “He says he’s going to teach me to cheat.”
“I think billiards is a euphemism,” Adelaide said with a singsong teasing tone.
“Oh, go on,” Lizzie said, giggling as she scurried up the stairs.
Adelaide grinned at Aurora. “You’d never know she was a wallflower not that long ago. Bad influences, these wicked husbands. Speaking of which, I’ll go find mine. See you tonight.”
Adelaide all but skipped up the stairs, which left Aurora to her own devices. And her devices were pointing her toward Nicholas. She’d been watching him all day as those happy couples all around her laughed and joked and teased and loved. One thing had become increasingly clear: her cowardice about facing the past had to end if she wanted to figure out the future.
And she did. So very much.
She marched down the hall, peeking in parlors and libraries and any room for him. But there was nothing. The last room she entered, she found Roseford’s butler, Jenner, talking to a housemaid. When he noticed her, he gave a slight bow. “May I help you, my lady?”
“I don’t know. I was looking for Mr. Gillingham,” she said, hoping she sounded casual and not desperate. She felt desperate.
“Ah, I believe he went up for an afternoon constitutional,” the butler said.
“I see,” she said. “Well, I’ll have to see him later, then. Thank you, Jenner.”
She exited the room and stood in the hallway. If Nicholas was resting, he might not wish to be disturbed by her. Normally she would respect that boundary. After all, if he’d wanted her to join him, he would have likely signaled her in some way during the picnic or on the walk back.
Her nature was to respect the distance. But then again, what good had that done her? She and Nicholas were such respectful creatures that together they never confronted anything. Not the past, not the future. Not even the present. They danced around things so the other wouldn’t be uncomfortable.
“It’s time to be uncomfortable,” she told herself as she marched up the stairs and down the same winding hall he had led her the night before. She knocked on his door, and smoothed her hair and her gown as she waited for him.
But he didn’t come.
She knocked again, this time slightly louder. But still no reply. She girded her loins and turned the door handle. To her surprise, it opened, and she peeked into his chamber. Fortescue lounged across the bed, but otherwise the chamber was empty.
“Nicholas?” she whispered into the empty room, but he didn’t respond, and the dog just grunted at her as she backed from the room.
Nicholas wasn’t there. She frowned. If he had gone wandering the estate by himself, she would likely never find him. It was just too big.
Frustration rose in her, though it wasn’t fair of her to feel it. Nicholas had agreed they should speak on the past tonight. He wasn’t hiding from her—they’d had no agreement to meet. And yet she still worried. Would theyeverbe brave enough to face the past? Would everything get in their way over and over until they just let it go and moved on? She hated the idea that could happen. She feared it was the path they were on.
She trudged down the hall to her own door and entered her chamber. She locked the door behind her and was about to ring for her maid to help her when there was a rustling from behind her.
She pivoted and found Nicholas rising from a chair in the darkened corner of her room. Her heart leapt into her throat as she stared at him, jacket already gone, sleeves rolled to his elbows to reveal and expanse of toned forearm, soft brown gaze focused on her.
“Should I have come?” he asked.
She couldn’t help but smile then. “I have spent the last quarter of an hour searching this house for you, including your chamber,” she said. Then she crossed to him. “I’m so glad you came.”
He caught her hand, his fingers smoothing across the flesh as they stared together at the place where their bodies met. His hand was so much bigger than hers, rougher, a scar slashed his knuckles. And she loved that hand. Loved every imperfection and how they made him fit against her all the better.
“I have so much to say to you,” he whispered.
She nodded. “So do I.”
“But first…” He trailed off as he let go of her hand and slid his fingers into her hair instead. He tilted her face toward his as her hair came down around them. His breath was harsh in the quiet air around them as he dropped his lips to hers.
She lifted to meet him, starved like they hadn’t started their day this way. Like it had been nine years all over again. The kiss began as a greeting, a welcome, but it transformed in a heartbeat. His mouth grew hungrier and she lifted to meet him. His arm encircled her waist and she felt his desire in the hard press of his cock against her belly.
