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‘My lady is demanding. A kiss it shall be.’ He lowered his mouth to hers and brushed her lips. She wrapped her arms about his neck and drank from his mouth.
‘You call that a kiss? Your hat kept hitting my forehead.’ Hattie knew her breath was coming a little too fast.
‘A thousand pardons.’ He took off his hat and tossed it neatly on top of hers before undoing his neckcloth.
‘That’s a bit better.’ A deliciously wicked shiver went through her. There was something to be said for enjoying Kit’s company. He was the perfect companion for playing and she had a hard time remembering when she’d last played so much.
He gave a husky laugh and pulled her body into his so that their pelvises touched. ‘Perhaps I should allow you to win more often.’
‘Only if I deserve it.’
‘You definitely deserve to be kissed.’ He pulled her more firmly into his arms. ‘And for once no one is here.’
‘I take it you wish to stay here for a while.’
‘I might do...unless there is a call upon your time.’
‘Do you think we dare?’
He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. His eyes crinkled in the corners. ‘We can do what we want, but I suspect the grass will be itchy. And you will get seeds in your hair again.’
‘Mrs Hampstead keeps her conversation to domestic trivialities these days and Stephanie is utterly absorbed in her family. She never asks about how I spend my time.’ Hattie bit her lip. She’d been thinking about touching him all morning while she was listening to Stephanie’s complaints about how Livvy had suddenly become a bluestocking and was constantly seeking to go to the circulating library. She’d wanted to feel his skin under her hands and had stopped herself from saying something just in time.
Sometimes, in her wilder moments, she did wonder what her sister would do if she confessed to her indiscretion.
‘You’re wearing your serious face.’
‘Stephanie gets worse. She keeps dropping subtle hints about me moving in with her until the baby comes. And I can’t. The walls would press down on me too much.’ Hattie knew it was another half-truth. If she had to move back there, all these clandestine meetings with Kit would have to cease.
He brought her hand to his lips. His eyes turned deep grey. ‘I’d prefer a soft bed with clean sheets and a roof over our head, and hour upon hour to enjoy you without your sister calling on you at all hours. Someone will have to give way.’
‘That is impossible, here. This is not London where you can be anonymous.’ She glanced over her shoulder. Thus far, the gossip had been muted, but she knew the limits. Discretion rather than full-blown flaunting of the relationship.
When they met at social occasions, it was never by design but by happenstance. Hattie was always careful not to spend too much time speaking to him. She loved hugging the secret to her bosom.
‘We’re far too well known,’ she said firmly. ‘I shudder to think what would happen if knowledge of this became common currency. It would ruin Livvy’s chances. I couldn’t do that.’
‘Have you thought about taking a trip?’ He moved closer. A faint breeze tousled his hair, giving him a rakish air. ‘We could travel to the Continent. There is no trouble with travelling now that the war is truly over. You could see the places you always wanted to—Rome, Vienna, even Paris.’
Her heart turned over. He wanted to go travelling with her. A brief vision danced before her eyes. She could visit all those places that she had read about, but it would be better because he would by her side, sharing the experience. It would mean what was between them was more than a summer’s romance.
He was fast becoming as necessary as breathing.
How had it happened? She cared about him. More than cared for him, she carried him in her heart. Loved him. That was not supposed to happen. Everything she’d done had been based on keeping her heart safe and enjoying the physical passion. She knew it was a summer’s affair, nothing more, something that would fade when the autumn winds came, but somehow her heart had forgotten that important fact.
The feeling nearly took her breath away, only to be immediately replaced with despondency. He had never offered for ever. He’d been clear about that at the start. He was everything that she thought she’d despise—a man who used charm and who could not be counted on. He was not the sort of man to love.
She knew how destructive one-sided love had been to her once. She turned her face from his and attempted to control her emotions.
