There was a brief hesitation before he turned to face her. His eyes, which had been fierce with determination and concern moments earlier, were now unreadable as he said, “All right. Turn around.”
She did so and felt her heart jolt when his knuckles grazed the nape of her neck.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice gruff as he undid the first few buttons.
“Just cold, that’s all.” Because there was no way on earth she would ever confess to the scorching effect he was having on her. It was electrifying, like a piece of lightning zipping along her spine.
“Don’t worry. You’ll heat up soon.”
She almost laughed. Yes, she rather believed she would, though not because of the stove or the swift removal of her clothes, but rather because of his touch. Unable to speak, she merely nodded. And then the back of her gown was being pulled open, and she thought she heard Jack mutter a curse. But he cleared his throat and said, “I believe you can manage the rest on your own.”
“Right.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw that he’d turned away once more, offering her the privacy she required. “Thank you.”
He made a strange sort of sound at the back of his throat. “Just tell me when you’re done.”
Jack’s blood was on fire. And all it had taken was a tiny glimpse of Sophia’s back. Most of which had been obscured by her chemise. He wrapped the rough woolen blanket tighter around himself, took a seat on a bench intended to double as a narrow bed, and removed his boots so he could peel off his trousers and smalls. It wasn’t easy to do when his wet clothes clung to his skin like leeches. Or while keeping his gaze deliberately turned away from the woman undressing a few feet away.
His heart thumped in response to the one thing he’d vowed never to feel for her. Desire had always been something he’d faced with pleasure. His lovers had been experienced women who sought the same thing as he – a bit of good fun between the sheets without any further attachment after. Not to say he’d not bedded some of them numerous times. A few he’d even considered friends. But they’d always met him with open eyes and the solemn agreement that he’d never offer them more than a brief escape. And the sweet fulfillment accompanying it.
With Sophia, however, it would never be so simple. For one thing, their history would demand more from him if he made an advance. For another, she was now engaged to Edward who, while not his closest friend, was someone he respected. Third, if he took Sophia’s virtue he would feel obligated to wed her, except as his father had said, she was not the sort of woman a man in his position married.
Most importantly, he was not the sort of man who got between a woman and her fiancé. He was also not the sort of man who’d be able to kiss a longtime family friend and then pretend nothing had happened.
Which left him in a bit of a bind. Because his body desperately needed, more than ever before, the one person he knew he should not want. And now he was stuck with her in a miniscule hut, naked for all the difference the blankets made since there was nothing wrong with his imagination. Just knowing she was stepping out of her clothes immediately behind him made him ache. So he sat on the bench and stared at the wall while sleet drummed down on the metal sheet roofing.
“All done,” she said, her soft voice filling the air between them.
His chest tightened. He had to stay strong. For both their sakes. So he hardened his features to the best of his ability and forced his gaze toward her. Upon which he nearly growled at the unfairness of life and the manner in which fate had chosen to test him. It took every ounce of control he possessed to stay seated, to not close the distance between them and pull her into his arms, the vision she created nearly impossible to resist.
Her bonnet was gone and she’d undone her hair, the wet locks framing her beautiful face as they curled over her shoulders. Shoulders which were not only bare but smoother than silk. Then came the blanket, its stiffness concealing the curves he knew lay beneath. And finally her toes – the most perfect toes attached to the loveliest feet he’d ever seen.
Everything inside him tightened. Never in his life had he wanted to kiss a woman as much as he wanted to kiss Sophia in that moment. But he couldn’t. And he wouldn’t. So he fisted his hands and hardened whatever resolve he possessed, raising invisible battlements with every hope he’d survive her siege, and snatched his discarded trousers and smalls off the floor.
“Good.” His voice was harder than he’d intended, but that could not be helped. He carefully stood. “Let’s hang our wet clothes as best we can.”
She didn’t hesitate for one second. In fact, it almost seemed as though she required something with which to busy herself as much as he did. Curious that, though not an observation he’d let his mind linger on for one second. Too risky.
“While there’s not much space in here for two people,” she told him in an overly bright tone, “its size allows it to heat up quickly. Which is a good thing, wouldn’t you say? I mean, if we’d found a larger cottage instead, it would have taken much longer for us to warm up, don’t you think?”
Jack frowned while hooking the back of his trousers onto one of several pegs attached to the wall. It sounded like she was nervous. Another thought he decided to cast from his mind. “Yes.”
“In fact, I believe…” Her voice caught and he glanced at her. She was trying to hang her chemise up over one of the curtain rails, her slim arms reaching while the rest of her upper body seemed to strain against the confines of the blanket. She muttered a curse.
Jack shook himself. “Here. Let me help.”
Before she had a chance to deny or accept the offer, he snatched the chemise from her hands and slipped it over the rail. There.
“Thank you. I’ll…um… Perhaps there’s some tea?” She spun away and proceeded to rummage through every cupboard, box, nook and cranny. Of which there were very few. She was done in less than one minute. “It doesn’t look like there’s much of anything.”
Jack couldn’t help but smile in response to her pique. She sounded exactly the same as when she’d been little and she’d set her mind on something that didn’t work out. Like finding the bushes behind the mill filled with blackberries when she took him and his sisters there. Only to discover they’d been picked clean already by other children.
“It’s just as well,” Jack told her. “We don’t have any water with which to make it. Unless we go back outside and gather some sleet, and I would personally prefer to suffer the lack of tea than have to do that. How about you?”
She turned to face him, her face all frowny and serious. “I have to agree.”
He grinned. Trust Sophia to be annoyed over not being able to set her mind to something and get it done. He gestured toward the bench, the only seat available to them. “Let’s get comfortable, shall we? It could be a while before we’re able to leave.” Especially with Star being in the condition he was now in. Jack had done his best for the horse, had managed to settle him on the sheltered side of the hut. He could only hope his greatcoat and the fur pelt would stay on and protect the mount from the elements.
Sophia glanced around as if expecting additional chairs to pop out of nowhere. Eventually she flattened her lips and traipsed to the bench with the edge of her blanket trailing behind her. Her body slid into the narrow space beside him, her shoulder grazing his.
