Alyssia snuck a look at Giles, who gave a reluctant nod. “Very well.”
The butler opened the front door and stood back, and a rush of chilliness beckoned her forward. Giles’s hand came to rest at the small of her back, the warmth of his palm burrowing through the layers of her clothing, an infuriating reminder how distance was a lie when he could disarm her with a single touch.
How vexing.
She stepped outside, chin lifted, pretending not to feel whatfeltlikea claim in that simple gesture. He didn’t remove his hand until she entered Knoxley’s carriage. Giles followed her inside, and she noted, at some point, he’d put a hat over his untamed hair.
Her gaze drifted to his stubble.
He hadn’t shaved again. She quite liked that.
Focus,Alyssia.
Unfortunately, closeness was inescapable.Hewas inescapable. Detachment could not survive a carriage’s dimensions. Or a bed’s, for that matter. But the bed had been at night. One could hide beneath the cover of the sheets and even darkness. This was full daylight. There was no hiding, only exposure.
“You’re not feeling well?” Giles asked. Outside, the marquess gave instructions, a tap on the roof, and the carriage lurched forward.
“I’m perfectly fine,” she said sharply, perhaps too sharply. Alyssia inhaled a fortifying breath, and asked, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He arched a brow.
Fine. “I’m merely feeling a bit... cramped.”And you in this carriage with me is not helping.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“It’s not your fault,” Alyssia said offhandedly.
Do not fall for that tone.
Stay strong.
Marriage of convenience.
“Nevertheless,” his knee brushed hers, “feel free to plot my demise.”
Plot his demise? As if she ever could. Alyssia parted the curtain and peeked outside, ignoring the shiver that started from her scalp and rolled all the way to her toes. “You flatter yourself.”
He tossed his hat beside him, dragging a hand through hair. “Then allow me this courtesy.”
Courtesy, heh? Ridiculous. And yet, despite herself, a bit of the stiffness eased from her shoulders. Her lips twitched before she could stop them. Blast him. He took up too much space, the faint spice of hiscologne, his maddening confidence, the curve of his insufferable grin, all of it coaxing her pulse into betrayal.
She glanced back at him, and sure enough, both corners of his mouth were hooked up. “Fine, you’ll do what you want anyway.”
“But you enjoy that about me, do you not?”
She hated that he wasn’t wrong. “You’ll believe what you want, whatever I say.”
He chuckled. “Would you like to open a window? You wished for air, did you not?”
“No, I’m all right.” She’d rather keepthisair than let the outside steal a breath of it.
You’re so hopeless!
Fine, she was hopeless.
Fortunately, he didn’t know that. She could just imagine how he might attempt to provoke her if he did. He already looked smug enough without confirmation that she’d fallen headfirst into his absurd charm. The reason she wished for a marriage of convenience wasnotto be swayed in any way by her husband. Not her heart. Not her body. Not her mind. And if it had been any other man, it would not have been so hard.
However, she could not change her mind.
