His face softened a bit. He held up a hand. “My mistake. Apparently, my sister thinks playing pranks is a lark. My apologies on her behalf.” He swung his mount around and turned to go.
“Wait!” The word escaped Cass’s lips before she had even meant to think it. She cursed herself. Why had she said that? What did she want him to wait for? What more could they say to each other after what had happened last night?
He stopped and turned back to face her. “Yes?”
“I…” Her voice shook. She cursed herself for that. “Would you… care to… go for a ride?”
Confusion clouded his face. He narrowed his eyes again. “With you?”
“Yes.” She glanced down at her gloves where they gripped the leather reins. Oh, the devil may care if he believed she was responsible for this. Daphne had tricked them both, but now that he was here… she didn’t want to let him go.
He maneuvered his mount back toward her and cocked his head to the side. “Where to?”
Cass smiled at him.
Minutes later, they were trotting down the secluded path past the rosebushes. They left Cass’s groom behind to wait for them.
“Mother would disown me if she knew I sneaked away from the groom,” Cass said softly.
“Not to mention you’re with me.” Julian led the way and Cass followed closely behind. “She wouldn’t like that, either.”
“Yes, but that’s only because you are—” She stopped and glanced down at her lap.
“What?” He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her.
“Never mind.” She shook her head.
He turned back to face the path but his voice drifted to her. “You were going to sayuntitled,weren’t you?”
Cass tugged on her gloves and readjusted her position in the sidesaddle. “Mother has always insisted I marry a man with a title.”
His voice remained clear, strong. “Like Derek?”
“Yes. She was beside herself when I refused him.”
“Like Upton?”
She nodded even though he couldn’t see her.
He stopped and waited for her mount to come alongside his. “You’ve had scores of offers, Cassie. I know from your letters. Why did you refuse them all?”
Cassie.There it was again, his nickname for her. It made her heart ache. “I refused them because I didn’t love them.”
His eyebrows shot up.
“What?” she asked. “Does that surprise you?”
“Yes, actually.”
“I never told you that before?” she asked, trying to concentrate on maneuvering her horse around a fallen tree.
“Not in those words.” He shook out his reins.
Her horse cleared the tree and Cass expelled her breath. “Why did you think I refused all my suitors?”
He gave her a sidewise smile. “I assumed none of them were good enough for you.”
She laughed. “Even Derek? The duke?”
