That didnotsound good.
Still, Charlie forced herself to respond calmly. “Kade, are you having second thoughts about us? It’s quite all right if you are, you know. I understand. It’s . . . it’s a very big decision.”
Now his eyebrows went up almost comically high, and his expression suggested he thought her dicked in the nob.
She flapped a hand. “Never mind. Forget I said anything. How was your ride?”
Kade cast a quick glance around and then clamped his hands on her shoulders and backed her up against the house. He kissed her with a passion as intense as a summer storm. Her knees buckled with relief, and she clutched at the lapels of his jacket to keep her balance.
And just like a summer storm, the kiss ended as quickly as it had swept in. When Kade released her and took a step back, Charlie flattened her hands against the warm brick wall at her back, barely able to catch her breath.
“Daft girl,” he said, a hint of brogue roughening his deep voice. “Does that answer your question?”
Charlie somehow managed a coherent response. “Yes, thank you. That was quite satisfactory.”
“Only ‘quite’?” Devilment gleamed in his eyes. “I’m crushed.”
She crossed her arms. “Kade Kendrick, you have legions of girls mooning after you all the time. You’ll get a swelled head if you don’t watch out.”
His smile was slow, sensual, and stole the breath she’d only just recovered.
“You’re the only girl I want mooning after me, Charlie. And I’ll be happy to have another go at kissing, if you think I’m in need of improvement.”
Laughter and relief combined to fizz through her veins like sweet autumn cider.
“Hmm,” she said. “I’ll have to think about that.”
He scoffed. “Is that a challenge?”
“I rather think it is.”
She was stretching out a hand, intending to pull him back in, when heavy footsteps crunched on the gravel path. Kade glanced over his shoulder and took a step back.
“Rats,” she grumbled.
Her father rounded the corner of the house, dressed in riding togs; it was apparent he’d just come from the stables as well.
He joined them on the terrace, eyeing them with a frown. “Am I interrupting a private discussion?”
Charlie crossed her fingers behind her back. “Don’t be silly, Papa. I just happened to be in the music room when Kade, I mean, Mr. Kendrick, came out from the stables.”
Her father’s gaze narrowed with suspicion. “Kade, is it? I hope you’re not engaging in a silly flirtation with Mr. Kendrick, Charlotte. Your mother does not approve of silly flirtations.”
Heat crawled up her neck and onto her face, no doubt turning her cheeks apple red. Kade, however, merely adopted an expression of vague surprise, as if such a thought would never occur to him. He was reallyverygood at hiding his emotions. It was a talent she’d love to acquire someday.
Charlie spread her hands wide. “Papa, when have you ever known me to flirt with anyone?”
“Humph.” He still looked disgruntled.
As Kade studied her with a bland expression, his cobalt gaze gleamed with unholy amusement.
“Nor would I ever assume that so worldly a man as Mr. Kendrick would be interested in a country bumpkin like me,” she tartly added. “How silly would that be?”
“I must object, Miss Stewart,” Kade politely stated. “You greatly underestimate your charms.”
She rounded her eyes at him. “And what charms would those be, sir? Perhaps you would care to list them for me?”
Kade’s lips twitched.
