“Unless,” he continued, intentionally softening his tone to drain all the coarseness from it, “you fancy running through a downpour alone?”
“I can manage, thank you very much,” she replied as she tucked the basket more firmly against her side.
“Finally, I suspect we have landed on the truth,” he murmured, with a smirk. “Just the same, it is my duty to see that you return to your home safely.” He looked from the stone archway to the woman. “If I cannot convince you to stay here for a spell, I’d be happy to bear the brunt of the storm and escort you home.”
The rain poured harder. Even though Adrian had given the lady options, it was clear they were stuck there.
But she did not immediately arrive at the same conclusion.
As he lurched toward the archway, in hopes of avoiding the worst of the pelting rain droplets, she swerved around him and made for the path.
The poor thing tried to go past the archway, but as she stepped away from the trees and the shelter, the cascading rain quickly soaked her garments. She tried to cover the basket with her limbs, as if its contents were more important than her well-being.
Adrian watched as she looked down at her bundle, then up at the heavens.
He imagined her saying a silent prayer, imploring the rain to desist in its deluge, but her wishes were not granted. A look of resignation crossed her face and her shoulders sagged as she lowered her head and met his gaze. She didn’t have a choice but to retreat back to the shelter.
He held out a hand to assist her, for a small puddle of water had already accumulated near the mouth of the entryway, but she refused to accept him.
“I—I can manage,” she repeated, even as she shivered a little.
Her teeth chattered as she leaned against the archway, placing as much space between them as possible.
“Manage,” Adrian echoed as he leaned against the opposite archway. “Such a lonely word.”
“P-please keep things proper, sir,” she warned, giving him a suspicious glance.
Adrian sighed dramatically. “I do not know what you mean, miss. We are only having a conversation and sharing this shelter. I do not see how I could have possibly offended your sensibilities.”
“You have not offended me… not yet. But I trust you have the honor to behave properly,” she said more firmly, clutching her basket to her chest.
“It is odd,” Adrian mused. “Before I ran into you, I was delivering my own sort of address, lecturing others on the way to behave properly in the business arena.” He raked his hands through the wet ends of his hair, then pivoted so he could look at the woman. “To go from that to this… well…”
She eyed him shrewdly. “I do not mean to imply that your actions have been dishonorable this evening, but I should like it very much if I returned home unscathed.”
“You have my word,” Adrian swore. “While I am with you, no harm shall come your way.”
Her eyes narrowed and he could tell that she was unsure of how to react.
“But,” he continued the conversation, since she failed to interject anything, “since we are speaking of proper social expectations, I might wonder about your behavior.”
“Me?” She blinked rapidly showing her confusion. “I have done nothing wrong.”
“You ventured into the woods at night… alone.” Adrian watched her as he spoke, not wanting to miss a single expression as it crossed her face. “You are either terribly foolish or extraordinarily brave to walk all alone at night,” he observed, sounding more serious now.
“My errand was important,” she replied without hesitation.
Reflexively, she patted the top of the basket then squeezed her eyes closed.
“Braveandselfless, my lady,” he murmured, still watching her face and wondering what she was concealing from him.
Her neck turned toward him. He saw the shock there before she could protest, “I am no lady, sir.”
“You deflect too much, my lady,” he said, laughing. “Why do you attempt to hide what is so apparent?”
“Stop that,” she snapped. “I am not hiding anything, and I am certainly not here to entertain you.”
“Intentions rarely matter.” Adrian pushed away from the side of the cold stone archway.
