Finally, she smiled wide. “If I win, for an entire week you have to treat me as if I’m a princess.”
He chuckled. “How can I treat any woman like a princess if she is wearing baggy and plain dresses with her hair wound so tight?”
“I suppose you will just have to try.”
He remained silent for a second, staring at her stubborn—yet pretty—face. He didn’t plan on losing, so he would agree. “I will take your challenge. If you win, I will treat you like a princess, but if I win, you will have to wear enticing women’s dresses for an entire week.” He reached out his hand to seal the bargain. “Shall we close the arrangement with a handshake?”
She smiled, slipping her small hand into his and giving it one good squeeze. “Yes, we have an accord.”
Lining their horses up, they prepared for the race.
“On your mark… get set…” he started.
“Go,” she yelled, and took off. Broderick was prepared for her trickery and wasn’t far behind. He laughed. She really wasn’t being dishonest, just sneaky.
The thoroughbreds ran neck to neck along the countryside. At times, Broderick was ahead, but then, discouragingly, Emiline always seemed to catch up. At one point she brokeahead of him, but soon enough he caught up. Obviously, she was determined to win, but so was he.
One mile away at the stream was their ending point, and both reached the bank at the same time. By the time he pulled his horse to a stop, he laughed merrily, and she joined in.
Broderick dismounted first and moved to help her down. “You surprise me, Emiline. I have never known a woman who could maneuver a horse as well as you.” He took her small waist and lifted her down from the horse slowly.
“Thank you, sir. That is quite a compliment coming from you.”
Still holding her by the waist, he stared down into her huge eyes. Excitement shot through him. He became breathless standing so close. The yearning to kiss her again spread through him like wildfire. The sudden spark of heat confused him, so he released her and stepped back.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself from the brief contact. “Now what do we do in this situation?”
Her eyes widened. “What situation?”
“The race. We tied.”
She blew out a gust of air and smiled. “Yes, the tie. I don’t know what to do in this situation, because I’m usually the person who wins.”
“You are very good—for a woman.” Amazed, he shook his head. “But what I think is done in situations like this is that we both have to pay the consequences.”
“What? You still expect me to dress myself as anenticingwoman?”
He nodded. “Yes, just as I will treat you like a princess for a whole week.”
Emiline bit her bottom lip as silence stretched between them for a few seconds. “I think you are getting the better end of our wager.”
He chuckled. “No. I think you are. Can you imagine what my relatives will think when they see me treating you as if you are royalty?” He laughed harder. “Just think about what Lady Sarah will do.”
A grimace quickly touched her mouth. “I will explain things to her, so she understands.”
He turned and walked to the water. “Is it really difficult for you to dress that way?” He bent and plucked a long weed from out of the grass, noticing a bunch of summer snowflake flowers nearby.
“Hard for me?” Her laugh sounded forced. “I will have you know—” She stopped suddenly, biting her lower lip.
He received the impression she had been about to divulge a secret. Now he wanted her to continue. “Go on,” he encouraged her.
“Um, I will have you know that… Well, that I do know how to dress that way.” She walked to him. “I have been Lady Sarah’s companion for a couple of years, and I have watched her closely. I know I could dress as she does, but I have chosen not to. My father was not very strict with me as a child, and he let me traipse around the estate doing things only a boy would do.”
Chuckling softly, he shook his head. “And Lady Sarah still wanted you for her lady’s companion?”
A flicker of hurt flashed through her eyes and her expression sobered. She lifted her chin stubbornly. “As I told you before, I was a poor relation, and she wanted to help me out by giving me the position as her companion.”
He hadn’t meant to hurt her—he thought he was stating the obvious. He reached down and plucked the white snowflake flower and then touched it to the end of her cute little nose. “You must have done fabulously, because look at Lady Sarah now.”
