“I don’t actually know how he would react if his cronies took the story up. He ignores me, but—” She shrugged.
“Your school matters, Patience,” he said, his husky voice taking her breath away.
Standing as close as they were, the intensity of his gaze drew her. His breathing came fast. Her body leaned the slightest toward him before she caught herself and put up a hand. “Don’t even think about any obligation you might feel, Zachary Newell. You did me a favor coming here.”
His face in the grip of intense emotion she couldn’t name, he took a step back. “I’ll check the barn one last time. Be ready to go.”
Patience groaned. Her heart fell, forcing her to admit she had hoped for a declaration—of affection, of—she refused to think farther than that. She grabbed up the few things she meant to take in a sack, including a jug of milk for Hercules. A sound at the door drew her attention; he had come back and stood holding the door jamb with both hands.
Before she could speak, he crossed the room and pulled her into a crushing embrace, taking her mouth with his until her knees failed and she had only his embrace to rely on.
* * *
Insanity born of hope. Zach could think of no other explanation for his behavior. When she responded to his kiss with sweet passion, coherent thought eluded him. One dainty hand slid up his neck and into his hair as if to pull him closer. The other clung to his shirt. He pulled his mouth away forcing himself to gentle the kiss, only to nibble the corner of her mouth and kiss his way across her cheek to her ear.
She groaned and followed his lead, the difference in their height enabling her to kiss his neck just above his collar. An urge to tear his shirt off to give her access shook him, bringing him to his senses. He removed the hand that had somehow migrated to her round little behind and the one around her back anchoring her to him, gripping her by her upper arms instead.
He held her away, but not far, their mouths still inches apart.
“A gentleman would have offered for you first thing this morning, before Banks even arrived. This display of behavior—”
“Are you saying you aren’t a gentleman, Zach?” She wrinkled up her nose, teasing him adorably.
His laugh tasted bitter on his tongue. “I’m no man of leisure, wealth or title. Isn’t that the definition of a gentleman?”
“If behavior matters, you’re more gentleman than all the social climbing fops who thought to pursue my uncle’s favor by courting me.”
That startled him. It cooled his heated blood like an ice bath. “Is that what happened? Why you aren’t married?”
She nodded shyly, dipping her forehead to his chest. “It was long ago.”
“Fools the lot of them,” he muttered, kissing the top of her head. “Come sit. We need to speak rationally, and I can’t with you this close.”
She gazed up at him with dazzled eyes.
He had to kiss her again. “See what I mean?” he asked against her lips.
He put the table between them, determined to have that rational talk. “You will have to face down gossips, and this school matters.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again.
“You can’t argue that point, can you?” he went on. “I know what an education does for a boy, and I’ve seen how well you do it. The school matters. I’m not without means. I have enough put away to repair that roof and upgrade this crumbling school of yours.”
She gasped. “No! Your dreams—”
“Fenwick needs a bookstore. Brewster offered space in his lobby for a stall and a room to sleep in exchange for work. I have inventory—didn’t I tell you my room in Rumford was full? I may not have mentioned that the piles lie two deep, floor to ceiling. It would be a start. Staying at the inn, I could court you properly.” He felt himself color and prayed she didn’t notice.
“You’ve thought this through,” she said, eyes wide in astonishment. She leaned across the table. “You spoke to Brewster about it before we came?”
“Aye, he convinced me Fenwick on Sea has a future.”
“You’re willing to marry me?” The words were barely a whisper.
“Willing? I had nothing else to do all night but dream of it, lying there wanting you, unable to sleep.”
Joy unfurled in her eyes and the upturn of her mouth. “You want me,” she said with a spreading grin. “You’re not offering out of obligation.”
“There’s every obligation, Patience, but I take it joyfully.” He grinned back. “Besides, if we marry, I won’t have to stay at The Queen’s Barque. When I live here, I can open a bookstore in the small parlor—and a library for the boys—until we can manage a store in town.”
