Page 24

“Before you?” She rolled her eyes at his sputtering. “No, there wasn’t. Really, Gavin, I don’t see why you’re having such difficulties with this.”

He studied her, his expression guarded. “Then I really do apologize, even if, as you say, you don’t regret it.”

“Why is that?”

“Because a kiss can be so much more.”

“Is that so?” she asked.

“Especially when it’s not performed for a group of people in front of a church. When you’re alone . . .”

All at once the same heady, hot sensation that had pulsed through her when he’d kissed her rushed through her veins. There was no one else in the carriage, no one watching and cheering. They’d been alone before—she’d spent hours with Gavin in her studio—but this was different. No chaperones or friends or family sat a discreet distance away for propriety’s sake. If he wanted to, he could reach across the carriage and haul her into his lap, pressing his lips to hers once again. If she wished, she could slide onto the seat next to him, lean in, and touch her mouth to the patch of skin above his collar and just below his ear. She shivered at the mere idea of it.

His eyes, more keen than she’d ever seen before, pierced her and she was sure he could see straight through her. He must know that she was affected by that kiss, caught off guard and yet undeniably drawn in by him. Just as he was to her.

His right hand twitched on the knee where he rested it, and she was sure that he was about to reach for her. Instead, he shifted a little, sliding down the bench seat, farther away from her.

“What has your aunt put together for the wedding breakfast?” he asked.

The anticipation building in her flattened. It was clear he didn’t wish to talk of kisses anymore, just when she was beginning to see the very real appeal of having a husband whom she might kiss whenever she chose.

“Luncheon at Papa’s home. Then they’ll send us off to the new house,” she said.

He nodded and set about gazing out of the window, clearly determined not to look her way.

Ina raised a brow. He could play at casual indifference all he liked, but there was no denying that he’d enjoyed their kiss just as much as she had.

“A lovely ceremony, Reverend,” Mrs. Sullivan said when Reverend Macdonough came to stop beside her after the bride and groom had climbed into their carriage.

“Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan. What are your hopes for the couple?” he said.

She glanced over at the minister clad in his long black coat, his Bible clasped in front of him. He was an earnest man, more scholar than counselor, yet he had a good, understanding eye for people. This wasn’t the first hasty wedding she’d asked him to perform, and he was more willing than most to overlook some of the irregularities when she vouched for the sincerity of the couple.

“What they always are for every marriage. A lifetime of love and happiness,” she said.

“Come now,” he said. “You know as well as I do that any couple who marries that quickly always has a story.”

“And you know that I never reveal it, even to a man of God,” she said.

He rocked back on his heels as though considering his next tack. “I heard from Father Olrich that you were at St. Mary’s last month.”

This time she turned the full force of a grin on him. She liked the idea of a gaggle of clergymen tracking her every move as she sent happy couples their way.

“Are you gossiping about me with the Episcopalians again? I should be flattered,” she asked.

The minister blushed. “Not in so many words. It merely came up in conversation over a glass of whisky. Father O’Hanah was there as well.”

“You know that my services know no denomination, Reverend. I go where the couples go.”

“St. Giles’ is always happy to have your patronage,” he said.

That the cathedral had been collecting donations for new pews for over a year now and grateful couples often opened their purses in thanks to the church was merely a happy coincidence.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now I’m off to the wedding breakfast.” She picked up her skirts to navigate the stairs but stopped to shoot a smile over her shoulder. “And would you do me a favor?”

He tipped his head.

“Pray for Gavin and Ina. I fear they have a rocky road ahead of them before they find their happiness.”