Page 30 of Fortune’s Final Folly

While it gave Kate some peace to know she had Joshua’s backing in whatever decision she made, it was nice to share the weight of it all with him. She was clearly asking too much of him, but she was helpless to avoid it.

This notion of depending on another was new to her. That it was Joshua made the need all the more tempting.

“Sleep well, my lord,” she offered, standing. “I shall be ready to depart at our usual time in the morn.”

He halted, taking her in from head to toe before glancing into the hearth behind her. The quick move did not stop Kate from noticing the look in his eyes. It was a look she was becoming all too familiar with, though she was not certain what it meant. She could not stop herself from taking a step toward him. His stare darted back to hers when she did.

Reaching out, she took his hand, his skin warm and smooth against hers.

For a brief moment, she pictured her lips on the bare skin of his wrist similarly to how he’d pressed his to her flesh at his office off Bond Street.

His penetrating stare told her he wanted to remain as much as she wished to ask him to stay.

In that moment, the boundaries and differences that separated them evaporated. She was merely a woman…and he a man.

Class, wealth, influence—none of it meant anything.

Kate felt it to her core. She’d always known it. Her father had taught her that when everything was stripped away from a person, the heart was all that was left. It was what loved another, where kindness and compassion originated from, and what would ultimately determine where a person would go in the afterlife.

Joshua was not being awarded anything for assisting her. His offer of friendship came from the purest of intentions. There was no other choice but to believe him—in him.

She inhaled sharply. Despite their differences in station, Kate wanted more than friendship.

It was something she’d always longed for—more than a mere acquaintance.

A confidant. A trusted friend. A person to share her hopes and dreams with.

Someone that could understand that she was more than a teacher, more than a vicar’s daughter, more than…

He released her hand, and she felt the connection between them slip away once more.

But she wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t prepared to be alone again.

Kate never wanted to return to her solitary life above the schoolroom.

Could it be that Joshua sought more too but was afraid to voice his desires?

She lifted her hand, still warm from his touch, and allowed her finger to graze his cheek. It had been a long day, and she could feel the prickly hairs at his jawline, but that did not deter her. It intrigued her. She wanted to touch more of him, not only his cheek.

“Kate?” His gaze held hers as his hand cupped her face, splaying his fingers against her cheek. “This is…”

“Unseemly and ill-advised?” she whispered.

In response, Joshua stepped forward until there was barely an inch separating them, and a new spark lit his stare. With agonizing slowness, he removed her hand from his cheek, but he did not release it. He placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist again. His warm lips pressed gently into her flesh, so softly Kate did not dare close her eyes, afraid she’d miss the sight and wonder later if it had actually happened or if it were only another of her wayward dreams.

“Nothing about this—or us—is unseemly.” He kissed her again, this time on her palm. “If anything, it is untimely as we have been attributing all our attention to your situation and not our situation.”

“Our situation?” Kate’s head swam with the implications, struggling to make sense of everything Joshua was saying. Her feelings—about him, at least—were not new, and they only intensified with his proximity. How had she ever gone about her business across the street from Joshua without realizing her attraction? “The timing?”

“You are a guest in my home, Kate.” He sighed. “I have no right to press my company on you or invade your chamber as I have.”

“I invited you in.” And she was not ready for him to depart.

“Yes, but—” He stepped away, dropping her hand when he did, and paced toward the hearth, pivoting and stalking the room until he halted before the door. “I should go. Please, excuse my impetuous behavior. Until tomorrow.”

When he fled the room, he took all the air with him, and Kate strained to breathe in his absence, her chest aching within the constraints of her bodice.

Yes, but…