Noting that her anger had dissipated a little, he decided to take advantage. “Come,” he said, offering her his arm. “I will escort you home.”
She stared at him for a long second, then sighed as though expelling all of the hardships of the world with one single breath. Her hand slipped into place, and the two of them started forward, crossing Piccadilly and following one of the paths through Green Park toward the Huntley House garden gate.
“I’ve missed you, you know,” she said after a while.
The comment completely threw him. “Really?” He couldn’t help but glance at her. She was biting her lip in a way that made him want to sink his own teeth into that plump piece of flesh. Would she welcome such a wicked advance? Or would she protest and insist upon gentler caresses?
The wondering was going to see him committed in Bedlam.
“Not the arguing,” she went on, “but the company. Mr. Lowell and Mr. Burton are both pleasant enough. I’m sure marrying either of them would result in a comfortable life. But...”
Her voice faded into the background, drowned out by his mind’s fixation with that one sentence. It would mean that one of those men would have the right to bed her, that one of them would see her naked, have the privilege of touching her in the most intimate of ways possible, of bringing her pleasure, and worse—of havingherbringthempleasure. Such a notion was not to be borne. It clawed at his brain and turned his blood to thick and sluggish gunk that made his entire body feel heavy with disgust.
“Coventry?”
He started at the urgent sound of her voice. “Hmm?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
Shaking his head, he tried to focus on her pretty features in the hope that doing so would banish the unsettling thoughts he’d just been having. “Forgive me, but I must have gotten distracted.”
“By what?”
“A political issue,” he lied, hoping such a subject would make her relent. To be certain of it, he followed it with a question of his own. “You were saying?”
“Nothing much besides how I enjoy your company.” He now wished he’d paid better attention. “We might not always agree on everything, but I find that I rather like that.”
“You do?”Thathe had not expected.
She shrugged. “There’s something to be said for complete and utter honesty. It means I can appreciate your compliments more because I know you’re saying what you truly think as opposed to what you’re expected to say. In other words, you would never tell me I look lovely unless you actually believed it.”
He couldn’t help but smile in response to her observation. “That is true. And since we are on the subject, you do look incredibly fetching today. Your hair is especially enticing.”
“My hair?”
He hadnotmeant to go quite that far, but since he had... “It is sometimes more riotous, but today the curls have settled in exactly the right way.” When she blushed, he felt compelled to add, “I would be tempted to touch it if such a gesture were allowed.”
Surprise sprang to life in her eyes, and he wondered if perhaps he’d revealed too much. But this concern was quickly forgotten beneath the thick haze of lust that followed when she quietly whispered, “Oh yes,” for it bore with it not one but two revelations, the first one being that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. The second was that he now sensed how she might respond when she came apart in his arms, and that alone was enough to jar his senses back to the proper time and place.
He’d started a dangerous game now—one from which he’d be wise to retreat unless he wanted to acquire a wife. Which he really didn’t. His life was complicated enough without having to deal with a marriage, as well. Not to mention that Lady Amelia was the sort of woman who would want to be included in his affairs. He would have to explain things to her. Which was something he simply couldn’t imagine doing, because what if she failed to understand? What if she failed to forgive him for lying? It wasn’t a risk he was prepared to take. No matter what. Because if she failed to understand... if she failed to safeguard his secrets... His heart drummed an unsteady beat at the thought of such a thing coming to pass.
Taking her in, her now pondering gaze, he knew he ought to be able to trust her. After all, her loyalty toward her siblings was undeniable. But this wasn’t just about him. It was about protecting his sister’s reputation even in death and about safeguarding Jeremy’s future. So he would have to forgo the temptation she offered and throw a few punches instead.
“Will you tell me how your meeting went with the laborers?” she now asked. The passionate gaze with which she’d assessed him moments earlier had retreated, banked by a look of pure practicality.
“It went well. I found one of the offers particularly interesting because of the terms.” There was no denying her curiosity as he spoke. Her attention was now riveted on this new subject pertaining to the school. “They have agreed to a fixed fee as long as we buy all the materials ourselves, which should reduce the cost of labor while allowing us to negotiate with every supplier.”
“I like that idea.” She grew pensive for the next few paces, and he saw that they had almost reached her garden gate. “Are you still very busy?”
Not really.
“Yes.” He forced a more serious expression. “There are still a few things I must see to tomorrow and perhaps even on Saturday.”
“But you will come and collect me on Monday so we can visit the glazier?”
Being a man of his word and not liking the worry that spilled from her eyes, he deliberately put aside the concerns he had about keeping her company so often. Circumstance could not prevent it. Not when he’d now become her partner in this endeavor she was undertaking. He wasn’t precisely sure how that had happened, though his need to see her succeed so he wouldn’t get murdered by Huntley no doubt had something to do with it. It was the reason he’d offered to cover the costs and the reason he was now helping her procure the necessary people required to fix the house in a satisfying manner. That, and the fact that he had to keep an eye on her for his own peace of mind.
“Yes,” he told her simply. “I will come and collect you on Monday morning at ten. We will make a day of it since I would also like to take you out to visit one of the lumber mills and stone masonries outside London.”
