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Settling at her feet, Dash gazed at Shelby as if the dog knew he had something important to impart to his mistress. The animal tilted his head, ears twitching as though he, too, anticipated a momentous revelation.
As Shelby lowered himself onto the settee, the mantel clock wheezed the tenth hour like a dying asthmatic, clanging out its blaring chime with more determination than grace.
“Good God! Does the beastly thing always sound like that?” He cast it a disparaging glance. “I cannot decide if it is in the throes of death or if it is protesting my presence?”
“Unfortunately, it does always chime so horrifically. It gave me quite a fright the first time it chimed.” Casting the clock a dubious glance, Roxina wrinkled her nose. “Hideous, isn’t it? But I do not feel I have the right to tuck it away.”
Shelby grunted, refraining from suggesting what he would do with the thing.
Sable curls catching the sunlight filtering through the lace curtains, Roxina cocked her head.
“I’m glad you came, Shelby.”
“I am too.” He gave her a tender smile.
Glancing at her hands, she fiddled with the fabric of her skirt, twisting a small fold between her fingers. “I have something I wanted to say to you.”
Shelby shifted on the flattened cushion, the scent of lemon polish and old books filling his senses.
Roxina kept the charming cottage as tidy as a pin.
“And I have something I want to say to you too, Roxina.”
They studied each other across the short distance, communicating without words—a scintillating, sensual undercurrent, unspoken but undeniable nevertheless.
“As I’m always a gentleman,” he jested, “I must insist—ladies go first.”
Grinning, he waved his hand in a magnanimous flourish.
For a second, she appeared uncertain, grazing her bottom lip between her teeth before she shook her head. “No, you’ve come all this distance. I’m sure yours is more important.”
Shelby cleared his throat.
He had already told her he loved her once before. Her response had been less than enthusiastic. Perhaps he should let her speak first.
“Say what you need to say, Roxina. I shall listen and not interrupt. You have my word.”
Leaning back, he crossed his legs and brushed his fingertips across the brim of his new beaver hat, feigning a casualness he did not feel. His pulse drummed against his ribs, anticipation a knot in his stomach.
Would today be the day she finally saw him as more than her brother’s friend? Her protector? Would she allow herself to love him as he loved her?
As if impatient with their polite dawdling and urging them to proceed, Dash gave a soft chuff.
Drawing in a sharp breath, she stopped fidgeting.
“Actually, I have two things I need to tell you, Shelby.”
She fell silent, her countenance contemplative.
The sunlight filtering through the curtains cast an ethereal glow upon her.
Shelby remained silent as Roxina wrestled with her thoughts.
At last, she raised her straightforward gaze to meet his.
“When you told me you loved me at Fernleigh House, and I said I didn’t know how to reply, that wasn’t entirely true. I did know, but I was afraid.” She formed a fragile smile and shook her head once. “No—I was more than afraid. I was utterly terrified to acknowledge that I loved you too.”
Shelby made a harsh sound in his throat and balled his feet into his boots to keep from leaping up and hauling her into his arms to shower kisses over her beloved face and tempting mouth.
