Her cheeks turned pink, and she smiled softly. “Wayne, you must leave.”
“I shall as soon as I’m finished with your horse.”
Slowly, she pulled her hand away and stepped back from the animal. “Be careful going back home.”
“I will.” He grinned. “And you be careful as well. We don’t need your parents to ask questions as to why you were out by yourself tonight.”
“I plan on sneaking in through the servants’ doors. My parents won’t see me, I assure you.”
He leaned on the horse and watched her take slow steps toward the stable doors. He loved how she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him, either. He also loved the sparkle in her eyes and the bashful smile touching her tempting mouth.
“Mr. Worthington,” she said with laughter in her voice, “will you stop watching me?”
Shrugging, he grinned. “I cannot, my lady. There is nothing else I would rather look at.”
She stopped and stood akimbo. “I told you to stop calling melady. That is not my title.”
“But you are a lady to me, Regina. Don’t ever forget that.”
Her expression softened. “If that is what you want to believe.”
“It is.”
“Just make certain that nobody else is around when you say that to me.”
“It will stay between us, I assure you.”
He enjoyed the fast rhythm of his heart as she watched him instead of turning and heading for the house. However, if she didn’t move after five more minutes, he would again take her in his arms to show her that their passion was real.
“Regina?” he asked in a deep voice.
“What?”
“Will you meet me somewhere tomorrow?”
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I dare not. One of these times we will get caught, and I cannot allow that to happen.”
A question swam around in his head, and although he should keep his mouth closed, he couldn’t. Not this time. “Regina? If I withdraw from my proposal with Lady Jane, will you… Canwe…” He sighed. “I cannot stop thinking about you. I have never thought of Jane the way I think about you.”
She gasped and rushed to him. At first, his hopes rose in anticipation, but when noticing the way she looked at him with sadness in her eyes, he realized she wasn’t coming toward him to be in his arms.
“Absolutely not, Wayne.” She grasped his hands tightly. “Jane has been my friend since we were children. If she knew you wanted to start seeing me, she would never forgive me. It’s bad enough to know what the two of us have done behind her back. I don’t know if I can ever get rid of this guilt.”
Her words made sense, but he didn’t like the way his heart felt, as if it had been ripped out of his chest. Releasing her hands, he nodded. “You are correct, of course. There is no way I could be the reason your friend hates you. Please, forgive me.” He gestured toward her house. “Now go inside and let me see to your horse.”
“I thank you, Wayne. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
This time as he watched her leave, he felt the emptiness of a lonely life filling his soul. How could he have fallen in love so quickly only to have it end so abruptly?
*
Regina couldn’t sleepa minute longer, even though she hadn’t gotten much rest during the night. The events from last night stayed on her mind, keeping her tossing in bed. She already missed Wayne, and she wanted to never feel that way again.
Once she was dressed, she went downstairs. It was too early for the cook to have prepared breakfast, yet Regina smelled the scent of cooked scones and sausage filling the air. She stepped into the dining room and stopped. Her parents werehere. Strange that she hadn’t seen them all day yesterday, but now she would know if they thought she had disgraced their family. However, so far, nothing seemed out of place. Mother sat chatting with the housekeeper while Father read the newspaper. Normally, this was what she saw every morning.
Exhaling slowly, Regina walked to the buffet table. Her hands trembled as she dished the food on her plate. She tried listening to her mother’s conversation, but as of yet, nothing was brought up about Regina’s mistakes. Not once, but twice had she tempted fate. She would not do that again.
As she sat at the table, the housekeeper left, closing the door behind her. Regina picked up her fork with a shaky hand and glanced quickly at her mother. “Good morning.”
