A look of disappointment crossing his face, Daniel watched her go. Although her bell skirt hid the true width of her hips, it certainly accentuated the movement of them as she walked, and his nether region, barely recovered from when she had pressed her hand against it, reacted once again.
Reunion?
Apparently, the woman in yellow was someone from his past. Someone who also knew Watson.
The realization dawned at the same time he noticed Arthur openly staring at him. Or was he staring at his nether region? It took all his self-control not to cover his crotch with his hands.
Pulling back his shoulders and displaying a look suggesting someone might come to bodily harm in the next minute, Daniel said, “No more callers today, Peabody.”
“Yes, sir,” Arthur replied, a finger hooked into his cravat so as to loosen it. “Very well, sir.”
Daniel returned to his drafting table and resumed his work on the McDonald project.
Perhaps instead of a faux marble exterior, he would suggest it be painted the color of jonquils. He shook his head as if to clear it of a memory from his childhood in Derbyshire and was soon engrossed in drawing.
CHAPTER 2
CHILDHOOD FRIENDS REUNITE
Meanwhile, in George Street near Charlotte Square
Opening her umbrella against the sudden downpour that seemed to time itself to the exact moment she exited the architect’s office, Isabella Farnsworth wondered why she bothered.
Tears had already begun streaming down her face, several dripping onto her shawl. She fished a handkerchief from her pocket and quickly dabbed at her cheeks while she glanced both left and right.
“Watson, where are you?” she whispered, sniffling.
“Did he see you?”
Isabella gave a start, whirling around to discover Callum Watson standing on the threshold of a coffee house. He waved to indicate she should enter the establishment, and she quickly closed her umbrella and ducked inside. “You frightened me,” she scolded.
“Apologies. I waited for you outside, but then it started to rain,” he complained, motioning to one of the few available tables. With the gloomy weather, the coffee house was more crowded than usual. He held a chair for her and she sat, hoping he didn’t notice she had been crying.
“I saw him,” she said, glad when a waiter approached their table with pencil and pad in hand. She said, “Tea, please, with milk. And a biscuit.”
“Millefruit, Dutch, or butter?”
She glanced over at Callum. “One of each,” she replied.
“Coffee for me,” Callum said, before the waiter could ask.
After the waiter hurried off, Isabella regarded her childhood friend with a wan grin and sighed. “Well, he’s still incredibly handsome,” she said.
“I warned you,” he replied, waving his hands at his sides.
“He didn’t recognize me.”
Callum gave a start and suddenly crossed his arms. “Did you give your name?”
She shook her head. “No. But I left my calling card with his secretary. He seemed to thinkyouput me up to some sort of act to embarrass him.”
Callum blinked. “Why would he assume that?” he asked in confusion.
Isabella thought it best not to admit what she had done at the very last moment. She hadn’t exactly planned to kiss Daniel. She hadn’t thought to embarrass him, or to leave him with a poor impression of her. She had only meant to reenact one of her memories of their time together as children.
Not that she had ever actually kissed him back then, although it hadalmosthappened. And she surely hadn’t touched him as she had a few minutes ago. She wasn’t even sure what had possessed her to slide her hand down the side of his body like that.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Shehadnoticed the odd spot in the side seam of his waistcoat and thought to discover if it needed repair.
