Finally, they were stepping out of a door and onto a wide paved area. Before them was a dark expanse of lawn, framed by tall trees and an earthy breeze. Lanterns had been suspended above the paved ground, and tables and chairs set up, though none were currently occupied.
“We have come out through the wrong door,” Georgia said quite breathlessly, “we have reached the gardens at the rear of the house.”
She heard Keaton curse in exasperation from beside her.
“Is there anyone in sight?” he asked.
“No one, they must all still be inside.”
“I am not going back through that swamp,” he said emphatically, “there will be a means of reaching the street from the gardens.”
His description of the ball as a swamp resonated with Georgia. So desperate had she suddenly become to be free of them and somewhere alone with Keaton that it had felt as though she was sinking into a noxious mire. The night air felt cool around her. She clasped his hand and led the way across the paved patio area and onto the lawn.
Darkness enveloped them, seeming to muffle the sound of merriment and music from the house behind them.
“You seemed comfortable with Mademoiselle Marigne’s closeness,” she said at last, unable to keep it in any longer. “Far more comfortable than when we first met.”
Keaton arched his head slightly, intrigued. “She placed herself close to me. I did not request it and did not want it. Why do you ask?”
“Are you avoiding my question?” she challenged.
“No, Iansweredyour question. Why does it bother you?”
Georgia was silent for a moment.
Why does it bother me? I cannot answer that question without staking a claim on Keaton. A claim he might reject.
“I… I have not seen other women show an interest in you before,” she finished, disliking the inaccuracy of the answer but fumbling for the solution to her own feelings.
“Ah, you believed that a blind man would not be attractive and therefore not a reason for jealousy,” he stated bluntly.
“No! I know how attractive you are. It is just that I have not seen you flirt or show interest in any other woman except…”
That was dangerously close to identifying the feelings that remained unspoken between them. Lust and physical desire had spoken loudly for both of them. They had given in to that voice more than once. Their departure from the ball had been driven by it, in fact. But if she identified how she felt for Keaton and how she hoped he felt for her, would it prompt him to push her beyond arm’s length and accelerate the demise of their arrangement?
“Except for you,” he finished for her. “That was the purpose of our arrangement. It would not serve my interests to be seen showing interest in other women.”
Georgia stopped. They stood in the middle of the lawn. Darkness surrounded them. The sounds of merriment and music from the house were all but muted. She looked up at Keaton’s shadowed face.
“Is that theonlyreason?” she demanded.
“What would you have me say?”
“The truth!”
“No other woman has caught my interest. That is the truth. No other woman can draw my attention from you when you are in the room,” he snapped. “Doesthatsatisfy you?”
Georgia felt breathless. Her heart was pounding as though trying to escape her ribcage. She felt that she stood on the precipice of achasm, balanced on the edge of a knife. One step might send her over the edge.
She placed her hands on Keaton’s chest, running her fingers down his body, letting him feel the softness of her caress and draw from it the emotion that was on her face.
“It does,” she said, softly, “and you should know that the only eyes that I wanted upon me were yours.”
“The only eyes that you can never have,” he murmured.
“There is more than one way of seeing. As you know.”
She took his rough hands in both of hers and placed his fingertips on her forehead, then slowly traced them down her face. His fingers splayed, taking in the shape of her face once again. They stroked down the outside of her throat, making her swallow and shiver as he caressed the sensitive skin there.
