Page 53 of A Match Made On Duchess Square

“All right, Papa,” Jordan said, and both boys ran off to dive back into the gentle waves.

“Are you sure you will be all right if I leave you here?” James asked again, running his fingers through her hair, now tumbling down her back in a wet cascade.

“Yes, I’ll manage. I’m sorry I behaved like a frightened goose.”

“No, Gwen. Nothing to apologize for.”

“Well, I could have been braver,” she admitted with a wincing smile. “You needn’t stay with me. I know your sons want you back in the water with them. I’ll take a walk along the sand while you swim. Hopefully, my gown will dry under the heat of the sun.”

He nodded. “It will, but the sun is strong and your skin is fair. It’ll burn easily, and that’s dangerous.”

“I’ll wear my hat.” She frowned. “But my gown is so wet.”

“Don’t worry about it. Toss on my shirt if you get cold, or wrap the blanket around yourself.”

“All right.”

Perhaps her brain had turned soggy, because she felt so comfortable in his arms and did not want to let go of him. There was something wonderfully protective about the way he held her.

But she released him and took a step back. “Will you help me with my necklace clasp?”

“Sure,” he said, brushing her hair aside and placing the necklace securely around her neck again.

Perhaps she had imagined it, but his gaze had turned steamy in the moment before he abruptly turned away and once again joined his sons in the water.

Gwendolyn wasn’t cold. In truth, her insides were in flames.

“Oh, James,” she said in a whisper, “what am I to do about you?”

She was developing strong feelings for him. This was very bad for so many reasons.

They remained on the beach another hour before he and his boys got out of the water and returned to her side to gather their belongings. Gwendolyn had been seated on the blanket watching them, but now scrambled to her feet and started to close up the picnic basket.

“I’ll help you with that,” Milbury murmured. “Here, why don’t you put on your walking boots?”

Gwendolyn’s heart raced every time his hand grazed hers as he knelt down to assist her.

Was he feeling anything for her?

Well, she knew he did admire her because he considered her a role model for his potential brides. A goalpost, he’d called her.

However, she was certain her ridiculous tumble in the water had taken her down a peg in his estimation. She had made such a fool of herself, panicking over a harmless fish. Not to mention she probably looked like a swamp witch with her hair in wild curls.

Milbury, on the other hand, looked handsome as sin with his lightly bronzed skin and his body glistening in the sun. As she stared at him, because she could not seem to avert her eyes, he smiled at her while brushing back his dark hair by raking his fingers through it.

But that slow, casual motion of raising his muscled arms and plunging his fingers through those wet strands had her heart racing again.

She adored the look of his mane, which was flecked with silver at the temples. That dash of silver enhanced the masculine contours of his face.

“It’s teatime, lads. Are you hungry?” Milbury asked, even though the boys had been feeding at the picnic basket, like horses at the trough, the entire two hours they had been on the beach.

“Famished,” Jordan replied.

Robert’s stomach growled.

Milbury laughed as he rose off his bended knee. “Why am I not surprised? Let’s go.” He reached out a hand to Gwendolyn, and she took it without conscious thought, for it simply felt right.

Neither he nor his boys bothered to don their shirts before strolling back to the house. Milbury merely tossed his over one broad shoulder and then hoisted the now-empty picnic basket over his shoulder, too.