“I do wish I could do something a little scandaloustoday,” he said. “Everyone we’re passing seems stiff and in need of a reason to relax and take pleasure in the afternoon.”
Brina laughed. There was something enchanting about him saying that. But everything about him seemed to be enticing. She tried to ignore the feeling by saying, “You have done enough for a lifetime.”
He shook his head and his brow creased. “I was thinking how I’d like to reach over and kiss you right now.”
Her breaths became rapid at the thought, but it would be madness. So instead of encouraging him, which she would have liked to do, she asked, “Is your book of poetry in your pocket? Reading it should curb your restless state.”
He patted down the front of his coat and then looked around his booted feet. “How did I get away without it? It’s been my constant companion since you gave it to me.”
Brina laughed. “I don’t believe you.”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Nor should you.”
“You probably don’t even know where it is.”
He leaned toward her once again, giving her a gentle smile. “Not true. I would never misplace something you gave me.”
The way he looked at her meant he knew exactly where the book was, and that made her want to kiss him even more. But not now. Later. When they were alone. She would.
They fell silent as the driver maneuvered the horses and carriage to fall in line behind a queue of conveyances waiting to enter the congested traffic already in the park. While they were stopped, Brina listened to chatter from people in nearby carriages, the jingle and rattle of harnesses, and snorts from the horses as they hustled by pulling their load. Recent rains had turned buds into leaves on the trees and shrubs. Flowers hadbeen planted at the entrance and many of the blooms had opened. Scattered patches of green grass flowed into brown patches of ground still dormant from the winter and made a patchwork of the area.
“Which reminds me,” Brina said, changing the subject before either one of them acted on what they were both feeling. “Do you have any questions about your upcoming dinner?”
“None. I’ll find a way to get through it. Patricia and my uncles are excited. They were all over to my house this morning and they think your idea for me to host the evening was superb. They keep asking Fulton questions, and he continues to assure them his staff has everything in order and under control. It should be a perfect dinner party for us.”
“Us?” she questioned. “Why do you say that? I sent over the menu, guest list, and seating arrangements for Fulton, but the evening is for you alone.”
“No,” he said huskily, reaching over to let his hand rub down her arm. “It’s for us. For our future. Together.”
Thoughts of the future made her heart race again. As a lover, yes. Yes, she’d be willing to find a way to make that happen. She looked away from him, and on a grassy area not far away she saw people standing and waving. “Isn’t that your uncle Hector and his wife waving to you?”
“Yes, and Uncle Syl with them.” Zane paid them no mind. “It seems I can’t go anywhere without seeing them these days.”
She turned back to him and smiled. “We should go over and speak to them.”
“No,” he said unequivocally.
His short answer and clipped tone irritated her. “It’s the polite thing to do.”
“It’s torture. I told you I spent part of the morning with them. That was more than enough for today.”
“You can’t just ignore them,” she insisted. “They are motioning for us to drive over and say hello. Look, they have refreshments and will probably ask us to join them for a while. This is something you need to do. Something you wanted to do. Learn how to make your family feel you care about them and that what is important to them is important to you. Furthermore, I can’t help you be polite and proper if you don’t take my recommendations.”
Zane rose up in the seat, looked their way, and gave them a long, hearty wave. He then turned back to Brina, smiled engagingly, settled back into the cushion in a much too casual manner for being in public, and said, “That is all they are getting this afternoon. Besides,” he continued as they started up a small rise, “I told the driver to take us down to the abbey after our ride through the park. We’ll stop there and take a stroll to look at the buildings you wanted to see in that area. I’ve wanted to do it before now, but decided I’d rather take a closer look at the area with you.”
“Oh,” she said, touched by his words. Just when he was ignoring his family and she was thinking him irredeemable, he surprised her with his kindness. “You remembered I wanted to do that?”
His eyes swept over her face. He leaned in toward her again. “I recall everything about you, Brina. I remember how you taste, how you feel in my arms. At night in my dreams, I hear your sighs. When I wake, your scent surrounds me like a garden of sweet-smelling flowers. I am never without thoughts of you and that makes you always with me.”
His voice was husky, persuasive, and delighted every one of her senses. His gaze was so penetrating, it was as if Brina were living every word he said. She rememberedall those things about him too. As surely as he was sitting beside her, she wanted to kiss him and show him her pleasure.
It didn’t matter there were other people walking near their carriage, riding on horseback, and wagons and carts passing by, moving along in front, or trailing behind them. That very real, stimulating attraction was always between them. She moved to reach over and slip her hand into his, press her lips on his, but thankfully the carriage wheel hit a bump in the ground and they were jostled. The moment to touch and kiss was lost.
“You are being bad, my lord,” she said in a voice that was only half teasing. Sometimes he made her feel so good, she wondered if she might wake up to find him a dream.
“If you only knew how desperately I wanted to take you in my arms right now, you would know that I am actually being very good.”
She believed him, and that was why she changed the subject to one that she’d been debating even mentioning. “Have you seen Robert or had word from him?”
