“All the same to me,” Selina said with a shrug.
“Wait,” Nicholas said. “You were angry at Aurora because she didn’t protect me and now you’re thwarting her plans by coming to me when she is?”
Selina shook her head. “I was angry because I thought she didn’t deserve you. But I was wrong. She does. Andyoudeserve to be happy, love. I hope you’ll steer your life with that goal in mind and nothing else.”
“That seems to be the advice all the wisest people in my life keep giving,” he mused.
“All the wisest people and your very silly and patently unwise sister,” Selina said with a giggle.
“No, my silly sister may be the wisest of them all. I know your road with Derrick wasn’t easy. You had to have faith in him and him in you when there wasn’t much room for it. It paid off. I envy that. Just as I envy watching Morgan soften and warm under Lizzie’s light. Or Robert tame just enough for Katherine’s delight and pleasure. All of you are beacons of what love could be.”
“You could have the same,” Selina said. “I even have a plan for you.”
He laughed. “Of course you do. Well, what is it then?”
“When I snuck out of my house today, I took Derrick’s second carriage. Now your Aurora is expecting us to pick her up in our carriage in an hour. But I’ll go home in your carriage instead and you take mine. You’ll pick up Aurora and take her to the designated meeting place. I would go home and convince Derrick that he isn’t all that angry at me for interfering.”
“I’m sure that won’t take much,” Nicholas said with a laugh.
She winked. “I know all his pressure points. He knows mine too, but I am very wicked and convincing.”
Nicholas hesitated a moment. Selina’s plan would mean he was making a choice. And the choice wasn’t the title. It was the woman. When she opened the carriage door and saw him there, there would be no going back. He couldn’t allow there to be. The future he’d counted on for over two years would fade and the one he’d wanted since he was a young man would rise up instead. Golden and so very different. With so many other challenges.
“You must choose,” Selina said, as if she understood the underlying issue as much as he did. “So what do you want to do, Nicholas? What are you going to do?”
Chapter 20
The carriage pulled up on the drive at exactly two o’clock, just as Selina had promised it would earlier in the day. Aurora forced a smile for her servants so they wouldn’t see her fear.
“I do not know when I’ll return, so please don’t worry about supper,” she said.
“Yes, my lady,” Jeanette said.
A footman stepped off of the carriage back and bowed slightly toward her. Then he opened the door and held out a hand to assist her. She hated that her fingers trembled as she took the help. Hated to show that weakness or to feel it when it was so important today to remain strong and calm.
As she stepped into the rig and the door closed behind her, she turned her head to say good afternoon to Derrick and Selina, but to her shock it wasn’t them who waited to greet her in the seat opposite hers.
It was Nicholas. He sat ramrod straight, his dark eyes focused intensely on her as the blood drained from her cheeks.
“No!” she gasped, and reached behind her for the door handle.
He snaked a hand out and caught her wrist, his fingers folding around her firmly but not cruelly. With hardly any effort, he gently tugged her into his lap just as the carriage began to move.
“Please, no!” she repeated, squirming against him. “If you are seen on this errand, Nicholas, it could destroy everything you’ve worked for!”
He didn’t answer her with words. His hand slipped to the nape of her neck and he tilted her head up toward his. Close enough that his warm breath stirred over her lips. She hated herself for forgetting all her very good arguments as she sighed in the pleasure only being with this man could bring to her.
He kissed her. Gently, sweetly and she melted against him. She opened the fist she’d placed between them to push him away and rested it against his heart. She felt it throbbing, just like her own.
He deepened the kiss ever so slightly, tasting her, teasing her, setting her on edge because he could do that with even the slightest touch. Perhaps he used it against her, perhaps it was just as natural as breathing to them both. It didn’t matter. It was happening and she was helpless to him.
But at last he pulled away. He brushed his lips across her cheek instead, his fingers clenching against her nape as he whispered, “I’m not letting you do this alone, Aurora.”
She blinked at the tears that stung her eyes and shook her head, but she no longer fought him for escape. It was impossible anyway with the carriage bobbing along at a frisky pace toward their destination across Town.
She still needed to say the words, though, to try to convince him not to be foolhardy. He didn’t have to exit the vehicle when they arrived, after all. She could still convince him if she just said the right thing, did the right thing. There had to be a way.
“I-Iwon’tbe alone, though,” she began, her voice trembling just as her body trembled in his warm arms. “The Willowbys, Derrick, Selina and Mr. Barber are all coming with me. They’re vastly qualified to handle any situation.”
