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His damn knees weakened, and the minx suspected, because her green orbs danced with humor, secrets, and some other emotion he couldn’t define.
God, he wanted to touch her. To kiss her, to swallow her whimpers and soft exhalations of pleasure. Better, he wanted to just sit with her beside a fire in his parlor, and talk about everything that had been going on, and ask for her direction on the projects he was uncertain about, tutors for Emily, her plans to ensnare the man who had somehow snared her heart and enticed her to marriage.
At times like this, the insatiable longing that filled his soul for something deeper with Evie couldn’t be denied. She was tantalizingly dangerous. A simple touch from her, a smile, had the ability to crack the iron defenses he had built around his heart. Ah Christ, how was he to get through the day without giving in to the temptation eating at his soul?
Chapter Ten
A shock of awareness went through Evie as she met Richard’s unfathomable gaze. She resolutely kept her gaze above the open collar of his shirt, which bared a good portion of his chest. He was dressed quite casually, without the benefit of a neck cloth or a waistcoat. His shirt was tucked into his dark colored breeches, and he wore riding boots. His dark hair was disheveled, and he seemed so relaxed, so carefree. Helplessly, her gaze dipped below his throat, admiring his lean, powerful body.
“Lesson?”
On cue, her lips tingled, and the most private part of her clenched. She fought the blush with all her willpower. “Oh yes, I’m visiting Rosette Park for a few days. I thought it a wonderful opportunity to appease my rampant curiosity. I also thought it would be lovely to pay a call upon Emily.”
“Evie…” There was a ragged edge to his voice that he couldn’t contain.
An answering surge went through her veins. “Unless you object?”
“No,” his lips responded, but there was dangerous, sensual warning in his amber gaze.
“I’m glad,” Evie murmured with a wicked smile and a hopeful heart. She turned to Emily. “I do hope you are receiving callers and will have me to tea.”
His daughter brightened and nodded happily. “We are on our way to play cricket, will ye like to join us?”
“Would you,” Richard corrected softly while rubbing her shoulders in soothing, encouraging circles.
Evie’s heart ached at the tender manner in which he held and spoke to his daughter. She very much liked this side of him. She got to see it so rarely.
Emily’s lovely face scrunched in a frown. “Would you like to join us?”
“To play cricket?”
“Yes, on the lawns. Then after cricket, a swim, and then we’ll tidy for dinner. Will you sup with us as well?”
“I would be honored to dine with you, but as for cricket I fear I am not dressed for the occasion.”
A peculiar distance grew in Richard’s eyes as his gaze scanned her body. There was a clear challenge in his eyes as he regarded her. “Of course, Lady Evie cannot partake, she would not want to dirty her pretty dress.”
“I dirty my dresses all the time, Papa,” Emily said with a pout and irrefutable logic.
There was a hunger in her gaze Evie did not understand, but her soul ached to see it assuaged. “That is an unassailable piece of logic, my dear Emily, and I quite agree. Dresses are meant to be dirtied on occasion. I will join you in a game of cricket,” she said impulsively.
One of Richard’s dark eyebrows arched in apparent disbelief before his gaze narrowed.
Emily giggled. “Papa was so certain ye…you would say no.” Then she skipped from her father’s side to twine her small and grubby fingers through Evie’s. The feeling that welled inside, the burst of warmth, was unlike any she had ever felt.
Richard visibly jerked at his daughter’s ready acceptance, an
d Evie vowed then not to betray that trust.
“Very well, let’s get on with it then,” he said grudgingly.
“Papa,” Emily called, holding out her other hand. He took it, and they walked like that with his daughter between them toward the eastern lawns.
“This is a beautiful estate,” Evie said, shooting him a sidelong glance.
“The house has fifty rooms,” Emily said. “The lawns stretch forever, and we have a lake with fishes. Papa taught me to fish. Can you fish, Lady Evie?”
“No, I cannot.”
