His smile turned into a grin as he leaned forward. Nina put up her other hand, palm to his nose. “But that does not mean you can kiss me.”
“One day I will. On that you have my promise.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be enjoyable,” he answered.
“It serves no purpose,” she reminded him. Oh, but she did long for a kiss. Just one, to know what it was like, except her infatuation was still in danger of becoming more, and as they could only be friends, she couldn’t risk his lips on hers.
“Enjoyment does not need to serve a purpose,” he insisted with a grin.
“Says the man who will not confess to how many women he has kissed in the past.” Nina stood, shook out her skirts then picked up the basket. “Thank you for your visit and the basket, perhaps I might see you again.” With a flounce, she turned and walked away and returned to her cottage, unable to keep from grinning. Yes, she did like Orion. She liked him too much and that was the very reason she would never allow him to kiss her.
Fourteen
He would gain a kiss and it would be today, Orion vowed as he walked toward the secret grove after finding the entry above the bluebells at the back of the orchard.
What did Nina have against kissing? Had she ever been kissed before, then she would understand.
That was it. She had never been kissed and he would use that as an argument. And Nina looked very kissable today as she sat on the bottom step, skirts raised and her feet dangling in the water.
If any other woman would allow him to see her in such a manner, Orion would assume that she was setting out to seduce him, and he would readily participate. But Nina wasn’t any other woman. She was unique, desirable, innocent, sweet, and beautiful. She also had absolutely no idea how alluring she was. If she were to walk into a London ballroom, the gentlemen would line up just for the hopes of a dance.
“I am glad you have not used the grotto again,” she said as he drew near.
“The tide is too high,” he answered and sat beside her.
“How did you know that there was a path from the grotto to the top of the grove?”
“Pierce and I explored it when we were younger.” Not that he would dare tell her why they had been in the grotto to begin with. “We found it while visiting on holiday.”
“How old were you?” she asked with a twinkle in her grey eyes, which made Orion all the more suspicious and feared that she already knew the reason. “Pierce was sixteen and I was fourteen.”
Nina chuckled with mirth. “Are you certain you were not there in hopes of seeing the nereids?”
His face heated. Being authorities on all things Greek, Pierce and Orion quickly concluded that nereids liked to frolic in pools of water and bathe in the sunlight upon large boulders. The grotto received sun when the tide was the lowest and they had hoped to discover the naked ladies. Nereids were similar to mermaids in that they lived in the water, but they did not possess the fish tails.
“Ah ha, you were,” she accused then tsked.
“It was a natural curiosity for boys our age.”
“I am certain it was,” she snorted.
“We never did see one no matter how often we visited.”
“Nor would you have. They would not expose themselves to you and were likely put out that you were about spoiling their daily sun.”
He’d not thought they even knew he and Pierce were there.
“I am just as certain that Cassian likely made his way to the grotto for the same purpose that you assume.”
“Oh, he did.” She laughed. “I am not supposed to know, of course, and he isn’t the one who told me of his visits to the grotto.”
Her chuckle made Orion suspect that Cassian had seen more than he and Pierce. “Who told you?”
“The nereids. I overheard them talking as I was coming down for a visit.”
“What did he see?” Orion had to know if Cassian had been luckier than either he or Pierce.
