“Perhaps I should marry you then?”
She grinned in response to his teasing tone, even as she felt herself tighten up inside. “You know as well as I that doing so would be impossible.”
“Because I’m the heir to a dukedom and you’re a governess?”
“Yes.”
He scoffed. “You’re still an earl’s great-granddaughter.”
“As if anyone is going to care about that.”
When he failed to answer, she knew she’d made her point. The blue blood that had run in her grandfather’s veins had been thoroughly diluted during the recent generations. He and her father had both married into the middle class, and all of this was without considering her father’s downward spiral. He’d failed to provide for his daughters, failed to continue his father’s legacy, and had finally drunk himself to death. The blemish he’d left on his family was an undeniable one. And although Louise had never resented him for it before, she did so now.
Because meeting Lord Alistair had changed things. It had made her wonder what it might be like to be the suitable match for a man like him. And as time wore on inside the carriage, a new fear began to grip her – one apart from her duty toward her sisters and the possibility of failure – namely that she might have started liking him far too much for her own good.
She was certainly feeling things for him – things no young woman had any business feeling for a man so high above her station. And yet, with every glance he sent her way, her pulse quickened, and with every word he spoke, she sensed a yearning. It was built on fluff and fantasy of course, but that didn’t make it feel any less real.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he murmured, scattering her thoughts, “but that doesn’t make me want you any less.”
Stunned by his comment, she gaped at him. Surely she must have misheard. But the way in which he was watching her now suggested she hadn’t, because there was something so utterly wicked about his expression, it made her pulse leap and her skin heat with awareness. “What?” She tried to focus.
“I suppose I shall have to restrain myself, however, since marrying you would be so incredibly impossible.”
Staring at him, she did her best to make sense of what he was saying. “Surely you jest?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do I?”
Befuddled by this strange turn in their conversation and feeling as though she might slide to the floor in a sinful mess of unfulfilled need, she averted her gaze and looked out the window. Still, she could feel his presence so keenly her heart rate failed to slow. Instead, his voice echoed inside her head.That doesn’t make me want you any less. I shall have to restrain myself.
Good lord!
No one had ever told her something like that before, yet the words had come from the handsomest man she’d ever laid eyes on – a man who now made her wonder about certain things, like what might happen between them if he lost control. Would he kiss her with abandon? She dared not look at him as she imagined what that might be like. Delicious, no doubt, if her racing heart was any indication.
“It looks as though it’s starting to snow,” he remarked a while later, startling her from the inappropriate ponderings she was having.
It was all his fault. If he hadn’t said anything…
She sighed. Who was she trying to fool? Her attraction to him had been there from the moment they’d met, but his admission made it so much more acute. “Yes,” she said as she watched the white flakes drift toward the ground. “And the light is beginning to dim.” Because stating the obvious was so much easier than having to think of an interesting subject to discuss when her mind and body still lingered on his lust-driven declaration.
A sharp turn of the carriage served as a welcome distraction. It jostled her sideways. A bump in the road made the entire conveyance lurch. And then a sharp crack filled the air and the whole thing tilted to the sound of whinnying horses.
“Hold on,” Lord Alistair warned. He leapt across to her seat and pushed her into the corner, protecting her with his body while the carriage dipped even further. It eventually righted itself and drew to a jarring halt.
“What happened?” she asked as he leaned back slightly. His hand was on her shoulder, his thighs pressed up against hers, and if she did not speak of practicalities, she would likely do something reckless like close the distance between them and kiss him.
“I think we may have lost a wheel.” The comment seemed to sober him for he suddenly removed himself completely from her person, opened the door, and climbed out, leaving her alone in a crooked carriage to wonder about how her life had gone so awry.
Hearing voices, she made her own way outside into the chilly late afternoon. Beneath her feet, the gathering snow provided a soft tread while she walked toward the spot where Lord Alistair stood in conversation with the coachman.
“The inn’s about a mile up ahead,” the coachman was saying. “With the wheel broken, a quick repair is out of the question. One of us is going to have to go and get help.”
Lord Alistair nodded. “Let’s move the carriage to the side of the road if we can. I’ll take Miss Potter to the inn on horseback so she can get out of the cold.” He went to assist the coachman, while Louise watched in amazement.
Lord Alistair was a capable man, his strength evident in his ability to push the carriage forward while the coachman directed the horses. And rather than pant or groan from the exertion, he quickly went to help unhitch one of the horses, collect her bag, and come to help her up. “All you have to do is swing your leg over the side,” he said when he placed his hands on her waist.
Before she could think too much about what it felt like to have him touch her like that, she was in the air. Her right leg went over the horse’s back as he’d advised, so she sat astride in a way most people would frown at.
As if reading her mind, Lord Alistairmet her eyes through the falling snow. “I apologize for not having a sidesaddle.” Before she could answer, he glanced down at her exposed legs and grinned. “Then again, perhaps I’m not sorry at all.”
