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Freddie frowned. Did she not want a kiss? Would she allow him to give her one—assuming she won? If a kiss was at stake, perhaps he would not try so hard to win.
Pippy looked at him, but he could not read her expression.
“I do not wish to kiss my brother,” Ari said, a cross look on her face.
Evie twisted her head this way and that, obviously looking for someone. But who was the someone?
“Oh, pish.” Lady Dalmeer rolled her eyes. “Then why do you not try your hand at something else, Arabella? There is no line at the hoop roll.”
Ari looked from their aunt to Freddie and back.
“Sometimes I think you are completely daft,” Evie said, her eyes wide in exasperation. “She’s trying to get them to kiss,” she said quietly through clenched teeth as she grabbed Ari by the wrist and pulled her away. “You are very right, Aunt,” she called over her shoulder. “Come, Ari, let’s roll some hoops.”
Lady Dalmeer grinned victoriously. She really was a conniving woman! Although, in this case, Freddie couldn’t be upset by it.
“Very well,” Pippy said. Was that resignation or excitement? It didn’t ring as anything so positive.
“You need not heed my aunt’s dictates,” Freddie murmured as they came side by side at the start line. “She’s not in charge of the fete.”
Pippy turned to him. “You do not wish to reward the winner?”
Lud, he wished he knew what her expression meant. What did she want his answer to be?
“I wish to do what the winner wants,” he said, his voice cracking. Why was his throat so tight?
She flicked up a brow and turned toward the open field. The grass lay in matted clumps, with several small patches of crunchy snow still visible. “Then I suppose we will have to see who wins, will we not?”
If he won, he could decide if she had to kiss him. But perhaps it was better to lose and allow her to make the decision. What was a husband to do in this situation?
Pippy gripped her cheese wheel. It was only slightly bigger than her hand. She leaned forward, putting her weight on her front foot. Then she looked over at him. “Are you ready, Galahad?” A flicker of a smile crossed her lips.
What did she mean by calling him that?
Freddie moved in beside her. Could it be she was not opposed to his aunt’s new rule? “Indeed, Lady Pip. I’m ready when you are.”
She narrowed her eyes at something in the distance and lifted her hand back. Bringing it forward, she released her cheese, rolling it in a nearly straight line, until it struck an unruly clump of grass. The wheel pitched to the right, wobbled, and fell on its side.
Freddie’s, however, found a clear path, rolling at least five rods—a good two rods farther than Pippy’s.
“Well done, nephew,” Lady Dalmeer called.
Freddie glanced behind him, having forgotten that she was still there.
He turned to Pippy and his lips ticked up. “It looks as though I won.”
She pulled her lip between her teeth and looked back at their cheese wheels lying on the ground. “Indeed, you did.”
He took a step closer to her. “I believe I earned a prize.” Would she back away? Refuse to give him his earnings?
She nodded, but did not move any closer.
Freddie resisted the urge to close the distance. This was her prize to give, not his to take.
She blinked slowly and took a breath. Then, rising up on her tiptoes, she placed a kiss on his cheek.
Botheration! That’s not what he’d anticipated.
As she dropped back down, she took a step back.
