She laughed. “My goodness. We could feed an army.”
Laura sipped chilled champagne from a crystal flute, while very aware of the big man besideher.
Despite her need for independence, the significance of her carefully laid out plans seemed to diminish when she was with him, her gaze constantly drawn to him. Was she foolish to consider that married life might offer her more freedom than that of a spinster? Her parents’ marriage hardly inspired confidence. Her mother seemed content to assist her father socially in his career. If she ever had dreams of her own, she’d never spoken ofthem.
Laura was caught by his male strength and grace as he spread his long legs over the rug, a respectful distance from her. She took a bite of lobster, which was fresh and cold and smelled of the sea. She’d never been toCornwall.
“Your mother told me that you lost your sister to illness,” he said, his eyes filled with sympathy. “I wanted to say how sorry I am.”
“Almost three years ago, now.”
It seemed less, for Liza had been taken from them so quickly. She and her sister hadn’t shared the same interests. While Laura’s time was spent reading books, studying art and playing tennis, Eliza and Mother enjoyed decorating the new house and spent hours discussing clothes while studying the fashion magazines. But she and Eliza had still been extremely close. When Laura was in low spirits, Eliza buoyed her up and vice versa. Laura swallowed. Death was so final; it made a mockery of planning thefuture.
She pushed her plate away. “Did your wife die from an illness?”
“No. A fall.”
By his tone, she gathered it wasn’t something he wished to discuss. He wiped his hands on the linen napkin and propped himself on his elbows. “We might help each other to put the sad past behind us.”
Laura sucked in a breath. He made it sound very appealing. Despite his relaxed pose, Laura sensed the restless energy in him, as if he could spring into action at any moment.
“I have yet to have your answer to my proposal,” he said. “But first, is there something that concerns you? Anything you’d like to ask me?”
She’d lain awake the night before, trying to understand her own mind. She needed to know more about his life, what his marriage had been like. Had he recovered from her death? It would be inappropriate for her to ask. Now was not the time to speak of the departed. Laura felt alive and sensed he felt the same. “Tell me more about Wolfram,” she askedinstead.
“It was once an abbey. Wolfram was built in the most glorious place on God’s earth.” His voice held a rasp of pride. “I can’t put its appeal into mere words. You must see it.” His gaze caught hers. “Do you want to see it, Laura?”
“I’ve never seen the sea.”
Her attraction to him had been powerful and immediate, and not merely physical. There was so much more that drew her to him. Laura had forced herself to contemplate how she’d feel if she sent him away then read about his marriage in the social pages ofThe Times. Her chest tightened at the surprising sense of loss.
“I promise to worship you, body and soul, Laura Parr.” His heavy-lidded gray eyes held an invitation to more earthly pleasures thanspiritual.
She touched her bottom lip with her tongue. An ache had been sparked by that first indelible kiss in the carriage. A searing need which was new to her. “Do we have to marry? I rather thought we might become lovers.”
Raising his gaze from her mouth, his eyes widened and he chuckled. “Lovers?”
Embarrassed, Laura toyed with her hat. “I don’t find it amusing.”
“A gently reared young woman like you, my mistress?”
“I fail to see how the way I was raised has anything to do with it.”
His eyes darkened, grew serious. “You were meant to be a wife, not a mistress. Revered by her husband, not treated like a whore.”
He expressed it so brutally. He meant to, she was sure. Under Laura’s numb fingers, a daisy fell off her hat. She flicked it away; she’d never liked the shape of the straw anyway. “I’ve never wanted to be tied to anyone.”
Nathaniel pushed himself into a sitting position as if he was ready to leave. Was he irritated? “My dear Laura, you are innocent in the ways of the world. If I wanted a mistress, I would look for someone very different from you.”
She flushed. “Because of my inexperience?”
He nodded. “That, and other…considerations.”
“Am I not desirable enough for a mistress?”
“You are most desirable. If we were not in plain sight, I could show you how much. I might still…” He leaned forward and kissed her. The noise of people enjoying the sunny day beyond the shrubbery receded as her pulse pounded in her ears. She breathed him in, the smell of clean male overlaid by his fresh cologne. How quickly he’d become familiar to her. It was a restrained kiss, but her blood still sang through herveins.
He edged a respectable distance away. “Say yes. Or I’ll kiss you again, and this time, your reputation may well suffer.”
