Her heart flipped. He’d called hermy love. Did it mean what she had hoped? Or did that only happen in her silly dreams?
“Lord Hawthorne told me you had come outside for some air. I worried you were ill.”
“Why did you fret over me?”
He cocked his head, peering at her through squinted, glassy eyes. Perhaps he was intoxicated after all. Obviously, it was a challenge for him to look at her.
She smiled. “I didn’t want you to think I had the food tampered with again.”
Chuckling, he took her hands in his and pulled her closer. Her heartbeat drummed quicker, making her breathing ragged. Although the house was full of guests, they were alone outside where they could be discovered at any moment. How much longer did she have with him like this?
“Ah, dear Judith.” He kissed her knuckles. “I know you didn’t poison the food. Instead, I poisoned myself with liquor without thinking of the consequences.”
“May I ask why?”
He lifted his head. His eyes opened wider, and shined in the full moonlight. “Many problems weigh on my mind, and I required some help sorting through them.”
“Has it worked? Has the liquor helped you at all?”
He rolled his eyes and frowned. “Not yet.”
She pulled one of her hands from his only to brush her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. The urge to kiss him overwhelmed her, but even worse was the desire to trail her lips down his neck. Indeed, he had put her under a spell, a hex she had no wish to have removed. She hungered for him as a starved person does for food, wanting his touch, his arms around her more fervently than ever before.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Trey, I missed you while you were away,” she whispered. Silently, she scolded herself. Why did she tell him that? What was the use of having feelings for someone who’ll never return them?
Slowly, he opened his eyes and met her stare. A grin stretched across his tempting mouth. “I doubt it was anywhere near how much I missed you.”
Her heartbeat accelerated, yet at the same time, she wondered about her weak mind. She wanted to stay mad at him, mainly so she wouldn’t daydream about him. “You have a strange way of showing it,” she mumbled.
He arched a brow. “Pray, how do you wish me to act, my love?” He stood, and his jacket brushed against her gown. “Were you expecting me to take you in my arms and devour you with kisses?” His hands slipped around her waist, keeping her in a loose hold. “Or did you want me to sweep you off your feet andcarry you to a private glade on the estate where nobody could find us?”
Heaven help her, both sounded pleasing. But no. She must remain put out with him. That was the only way to keep a level head.
She shrugged. “Although you have described some intimate situations, my lord, I think not flirting with another woman would be the perfect way to act as if you missed me.”
He blinked with wide eyes. “Pray, what are you talking about?”
“At the table tonight you flirted with Nic’s cousin, Mrs. Pettengill. I would think if you missed me as you proclaimed, you would not have carried on with her as much as you did.”
His stare stayed on her for a few silent moments, then a slow chuckle rumbled in his throat. Within minutes, it had turned into a full-fledged bout of laughter. Irritation grew inside her, but she waited for his fit to subside. Tilting her head as she narrowed her glare on him.
“Oh, Judith, what a humorous woman you are.” He cupped her face. “We are similar creatures, you know.”
“No, I’m not aware of this.”
“I, too, had the same jealous feelings tonight as I watched you and Hawthorne converse with your heads close together. Every time you laughed at something he said, the vile monster of envy wrapped his long claws around my heart and squeezed.”
Huffing, she pushed his hands away. “I’m not a jealous person, Trey.”
He grinned. “Yes, you are, and it pleases me beyond words.”
Strange, but hearing his confession delighted her, also. “So, are you admitting you were flirting with Mrs. Pettengill just to vex me?”
“I’m not admitting any such thing, love.”
She growled. “Oh, you’re impossible!”
Judith wanted to stay angry at him, but the wider his smile stretched, the more those adorable dimples in his cheeks flashed at her, making her want to kiss him and never stop. As she stared, the lines of laughter on his face disappeared until his expression turned serious. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and her heart leapt. Were they far enough away from the house that they couldn’t be seen? Did she dare to step closer and let him take the lead?
