James forced himself to take a bite, surprised to discover that when he did, the apple tasted like a strawberry. He stared at it for a moment.
Leah chuckled. “I told you they were good.”
He looked at her. The past few days had seen her cheeks begin to fill out once more. The cheeky sparkle in her eyes had returned. Being at her grandfather’s house agreed with Leah. But then again, James suspected that anywhere away from her father would see Leah blossom.
“This is a marvelous place. I have never been to this part of the country before,” he said.
The sandy beach and beautiful blue water of the River Tresillian stretched out before them. He could imagine that in summer, it would be a wonderful place for long evening walks. His imagination stirred. Long evening walks with Leah, her hand held within his as they shared secrets and stopped every so often to steal a kiss.
“I thought you had travelled a lot in England, what with your father being so high up in the church. I am surprised you have not made it to this sunny corner of the kingdom before,” she replied.
James shrugged. All his life, he had been treading the same well-worn paths up and down the country. Every Christmas, it was to Strathmore Castle in Scotland. Back and forth to Cambridge when he had been studying. Only the occasional trip to a friend’s estate in the country had seen his familiar routine broken. He had unknowingly become a creature of habit. “I do travel a little. After my trip to Derbyshire, I went to Brighton when Caroline and Lord Newhall decided to elope.”
She raised an eyebrow at his comment. “Can you still call it an elopement when you bring the Bishop of London with you?”
James chuckled. “That was at my Aunt Adelaide’s behest. She was prepared to let Caroline and Newhall forgo the full St Paul’s cathedral wedding as long as they took my father with them to conduct the wedding service.”
“It sounds like it was a fun adventure. Not that you could really say Brighton was far to travel from London. My family are always moving up and down the road to Brighton whenever the Prince Regent decides he wants to spend time by the seaside. My father never likes to be out of touch with the royal court for long,” she said.
Knowing Tobias Shepherd and his political machinations, Leah’s comment was no surprise. Even Guy had started following the court of the future king as his political ambitions steadily grew.
Leah took one last bite of her apple, then tossed the core into the nearby seaside bushes. A scatter of seagulls quickly descended where the apple had landed. The squawks of birds filled the air as they jostled over who was to get the heaven-sent bounty.
She got to her feet and began to hitch up her skirts. James forced himself to resist temptation and turned away.
“You are going to have to look at my boots at some point, James. I can’t have my skirts soaked when we venture inside the cave. I didn’t take you for being such a prude,” she teased.
He turned back to her, his gaze firmly on her face and away from her raised skirts. “I am not a prude. I have just been raised to treat women with the utmost of respect,” he replied.
Leah walked over to him and bent low. She lifted his chin and leaned in close; their lips were almost touching. His heart swelled at the prospect of an unexpected kiss. While she gifted him with the most innocent of smiles, he caught the sparkle of mischief which shone in her eyes. “James Radley don’t try to tell me that you did not have disrespectful thoughts every time you took a firm hold of my arse and pushed me up into the barouche,” she said.
She was right, of course, which was no surprise. Every single time he’d had his hands on her rounded rump, he had felt himself going hard. He delighted in the knowledge that Leah had figured out that his manhandling of her was not entirely respectable. He suspected she had also come to the realization that he had thoroughly enjoyed it.
He dreaded to think what Leah would say if she ever discovered the extent of his disrespectful thoughts about her. Not to mention what he would dearly love to do to her if he could get his hands on not just her naked arse, but her whole naked body.
His focus at this moment was on a single part of her body. Her soft, full mouth.
Please. Please kiss me.
She released his face and pulled away. A stab of disappointment hit his heart as he watched her set about packing up the remains of their picnic. They had been so close. He should have just reached out and taken the opportunity to kiss her.
He tossed the rest of his half-eaten apple into the low bushes, close to the place Leah had thrown hers. His appetite for something sweet was now focused entirely on the woman who was walking toward the entrance to the cave.
James got to his feet and raced after her.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The sea caves had always been one of Leah’s favorite places. They were where she could allow her imagination to run riot. The legend of King Arthur had been set at Tintagel Castle on the other side of Cornwall, facing out to the Celtic Sea, but in her mind, she imagined him sleeping peacefully within the caves along the Tresillian River.
She had always kept that piece of fiction to herself, not even sharing it with her sister when they were children. Her mythical hero was hers alone. His resting place was forever locked in her heart. Now, a different hero had stepped into her life.
James followed close as they traversed the slippery rocks at the entrance of the cave. He slipped at one point, his boot landing in a deep rock pool with a loud splash.
“Bloody . . .” he muttered.
She laughed. “You don’t need to mind your manners around me, James Radley. I might be gentle born, but I have heard enough foul language in my time for it not to offend me.”
Offering a hand to him, she helped James climb back out of the rockpool and up onto the relative safety of the rocks. He stood for a time, shaking the water from his boot, and muttering further foul oaths under his breath.
