Page 96 of Courting the Country Miss

The brim of her bonnet hid her face too much for him to see her expression. “I’m sure nothing more will come of it.”

“Still, don’t keep things like that from me.” Anger and hurt knotted in his gut. She must have been terrified when it first happened. Yet, she had failed to tell him.

Softly, she said, “I didn’t want to add to your worries.”

“True friends don’t keep secrets.”

“I wasn’t keeping it a secret…oh, very well. I see your point.” Again, that touch. “I’m sorry, Tristan. Please don’t be angry. Don’t worry; nothing has happened since. I’m sure that’s the last we’ve seen of that man.”

His anger dissipated, but the hurt remained. Had she told Bradbury? Kensington? Did everyone know except him?

He pulled up in front of the school and helped her out. The teacher and footman leaped out and mounted the steps, leaving Tristan alone with Leticia.

She put a hand on his face, her expression apologetic. “I wasn’t shutting you out.” As she lowered her hand, her mouth curved upward, part rueful, part sad. “Do you remember that summer you were so angry and hurt that I wouldn’t let you inside the tree house?”

A faint memory surfaced of standing at the bottom of the tree calling up to her and being denied admittance. The sting of rejection had cut him. He nodded.

“When I went to apologize, I offered you a piece of peppermint candy, but you didn’t truly forgive me until after I had hugged you.”

“Sometimes I wish we were still children.” Perhaps he could arrange another balloon ride so as to once again have her in his arms.

She took his hand and tugged. “Come inside.”

He gestured to the horses. “I can’t leave the cattle standing. They’re tired and need a rubdown.”

“I will be but a moment.”

He allowed her to lead him inside. She closed the door, removed her bonnet, and turned to him. The voices of the teacher and footman echoed to them from another room. Leticia threw her arms around him and held him. The air rushed out of his lungs. Her soft body pressed against him, creating alternating hot and cold tingles racing down his backbone. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

The sweet, pure pleasure of holding Leticia shone light deep inside his soul. Dark, shriveled parts of his heart opened up to receive her light.

He could no longer resist. He loved Leticia. Loved her! He would do whatever he must to ensure her happiness, her safety. If he ever lost her, every good and wholesome part of him would surely perish.

He swallowed. “If something ever happened to you…”

She pressed a hand to the nape of his neck. “I’m unharmed.”

With her comforting, intoxicating scent enfolding him, he squeezed her, basking in her touch, the sensation of her arms around him, her body pressed against him, filling him with hope.

“Um, Tristan? I can’t breathe very well.”

He loosened his grip.

She stepped back, her breath unsteady and her cheeks flushed. He cocked his head. There it was again; signs that Leticia felt an attraction for him as a man, and not merely as a friend.

She glanced up at him with enlarged pupils and her breathing sounded like a series of sighs. Yes, she wanted him. Satisfaction curled inside. They’d taken a step in the right direction.

“Forgiven?” She offered an unsteady smile.

He shrugged. “I might need another embrace to make sure.”

She swatted his arm. “Don’t leave poor Dancer and Willow out there too long.”

The horses. Right. But the thought of leaving her side… “I’ll take them home and return.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Very well. I should be done with the music lessons by the time you return. In fact, after luncheon, we will have our first dance class. Do you think you could help us teach a country dance? We could use some males to act as partners.”

“I would be honored.” After bidding her good bye and promising to return soon, he danced out to the gig and sang all the way home, mentally penning sonnets to Leticia.