He noticed, of course.The flare of irritation she tried to smother.The faint tightening at the corner of her mouth.
Still, he said nothing.
At the street, one of the footmen sprang down and opened the door.Nicholas gestured her inside, his hand firm at her elbow, as if the matter were already settled.
She hesitated.Just a beat.Long enough to imagine the interior.Long enough to imagine the two of them inside it.Alone.
Nicholas didn’t speak.He didn’t reach for her.
He let the silence hold, allowing her time to choose.
After a moment, Beatrix lifted her chin and climbed in.
He followed, closing the door behind him with a soft, definitive click.If she asked to stop, he would stop.If she asked to leave, the door would open again just as easily.
He was many things, but never a man who took what was not freely offered.
Bea sat opposite him, spine straight, arms folded as if she were about to question him before a jury.
“You didn’t bring the curricle,” she said at last.
“No.”
“Astonishing,” she muttered.“I could have sworn you enjoyed showing it off.”
“Oh, I do.”He relaxed back into the seat, allowing himself to appear unhurried.“But today’s excursion required something…different.”
She arched a brow.“What an ominous choice of words.”
He flashed her a smile.“I prefer to think of it as promising.”
She narrowed her eyes—there it was, that spark of suspicion—and Nicholas had to bite back a wider smile.The woman was a battlefield, all tactical positioning and sharp defenses, but God, she was exhilarating to spar with.
The coach lurched into motion.
Bea braced herself with a gloved hand at her side, her expression betraying a very faint awareness that she was in an enclosed space with a man who had whispered seduction into her ear quite recently.
She wasn’t comfortable.Not because she mistrusted him, he realized.Because she mistrusted herself.
Good.
“About our destination,” she said, brisk and overly composed, “I’ve decided a ride through the park would be…unproductive.I think we should go…elsewhere.”
Nicholas lifted a brow.He should have known she’d been planning something.“Decided, have you?”
“Yes.”Her chin tipped up.“Hillary House.Lord Hillary is hosting a political salon this afternoon.”
Ah.Of course he was.
Nicholas let his gaze linger on her a moment before answering.“He is indeed.Though I’m not certain it’s customary to escort a lady one is courting directly into a room full of political observers.”
She met his gaze without blinking.“Then let us dispense with the notion that you are courting me.”
A corner of his mouth curved.“That seems premature.”
Her eyes flashed.“So does another visit to the park.”
Well played.
