Page 44 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘What?’

‘Whatever it is you’re thinking about.’

Alex grinned, gripped her firmly around the waist and pulled her down, making sure at no point her head went under the water. Lina screamed as the cold hit the upper part of her body and wriggled free from his embrace.

‘That was cruel.’

‘You were taking too long getting in. I used to do the same to Georgina when we were children.’

‘I might not have wanted to be dunked under.’

‘I kept your head dry.’

Lina muttered something under her breath, flipped over on to her back and began kicking her legs, propelling herself through the cool water. From his position, bobbing on the surface, Alex had a wonderful view of the swell of her breasts through the wet cotton of her chemise. Willing himself to be a gentleman and look away, he found his eyes would not obey the command.

‘You swim well,’ Alex commented as he pulled himself through the water beside her.

‘Raul taught me. Neither of my parents could swim, but Raul and I, and a few of our friends, will often cool down in a lake or a pond on a hot day.’

Alex felt an unexpected stab of jealousy at the thought of these friends swimming with Lina, seeing her with her chemise plastered to her body. Although he knew the presence of her brother would mean nothing untoward had ever happened, he still didn’t want anyone else enjoying this experience with Lina.

‘I learnt to swim here,’ Alex said, realising he hadn’t told Lina much about himself or his past. She knew a lot about him, from gossiping with his sister and the servants, but he didn’t often share much about his life. ‘My father used to bring me and Georgina on hot days. Sometimes our mother would join us, too.’

‘Your mother would come in for a swim?’ Lina asked, her eyes wide.

Alex nodded. ‘My mother wasn’t a conventional marchioness. She and my father were very much in love, they used to spend much of their time together and Father could persuade her to do almost anything.’

‘Including swimming in a lake.’

‘Exactly. We used to return home dripping wet and Mother would hurry us all upstairs before too many of the servants saw us.’

‘It sounds like you loved your mother very much.’

‘She was kind and very much involved in our upbringing. We had a nursemaid, of course, and later I went off to school, but our parents were of the opinion that we were their children, so it was their responsibility, and their pleasure, to bring us up.’

‘You must miss them.’

Alex lay back in the water and allowed his feet to float to the surface. ‘I do miss them. I miss my father’s sage advice and my mother’s warm affection.’

As they bobbed side by side, Alex wondered what his parents would make of his arrangement with Lina. His father would often make small wagers, challenge his wife or children to a race or a game of croquet, with the loser having to shoulder some small household task. His mother, however, would caution him just as Georgina had. She would worry about Lina getting hurt and about her son forming an attachment to someone that could not last.

Glancing over at Lina, he felt a swell of affection. She was argumentative and sometimes irritating, but over the past few weeks he had enjoyed the vitality and energy she’d brought to Whitemore House. If he wasn’t so damned attracted to her, he would class her as a good friend, but Alex knew a friendship could not work when one party imagined the other naked and in his arms multiple times a day.

Perhaps he had dismissed the idea of making Lina his mistress too quickly. Although it would complicate their arrangement regarding the wager, especially since his widowed aunt was arriving to chaperone them this evening, a few weeks with Lina in his bed might just satisfy the physical craving he had for her. His mind started to run away from him as he imagined sharing breakfast with Lina every morning, spending long afternoons out riding, talking and laughing as they did so easily together, and falling into bed and satisfying their desires every night. With a jolt, he realised that sounded more like marriage than a relationship with a mistress and quickly tried to get his fantasies under control.

‘You look rather serious,’ Lina said. ‘A penny for your thoughts?’

‘I was thinking how beautiful you look wet.’

Lina jerked with surprise, the movement causing her head to dip under the water, and she came up spluttering. Alex was immediately by her side, one arm looped around her waist. The fabric of her chemise clung tight to her body as Alex resisted the temptation to let his fingers roam over the curve of her waist.

‘You must know you’re beautiful,’ he said, looking down into her eyes.

She gave a miniscule shake of her head, but Alex could tell it was just a reflex, she was too affected by his proximity to answer properly.

‘I’m sure many men have told you how beautiful you are,’ he murmured. ‘How could they not?’

With his free hand, he smoothed back the wet strands of hair from around her face, letting his fingers dance across the skin of her cheek and down to the line of her jaw. Perhaps just one kiss would slake his desire, perhaps then he would be able to think clearly and rationally.