But as she headed for the stairs, the weariness only grew until it felt like something far more than a simple bowl of porridge could fix.
After gulping down a cup of black coffee in the breakfast room, Alex impulsively decided to pocket a warm crumpet and head directly outside. As she stepped onto the back terrace, the strangeennui began to slowly dissipate. The morning was bright and the air was crisp with the faint scent of early autumn, which she inhaled by the lungful. Back in London she would have already been at her desk for at least an hour, if not more. For once, she was glad not to be there.
Alex wandered past her mother’s tidy flower beds toward the ancient forest that surrounded the property. As she walked along the footpath that wound through the woods, she idly chewed on pieces of crumpet and forced herself not to think of work. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave much else to ruminate on.
Other than Lucien, of course, offered the cheeky voice in her head.
No. He isalsocategorized under work.
Alex then smiled to herself, as Lucien might object to that description. But before she could pursue this dangerous line of thinking any further, Alex glanced up and came to a halt.
Though she didn’t have any particular destination in mind, it was still something of a surprise to find herself on the path that led to the pond. She hadn’t been over this way in many years but was gripped by a sudden urge to sit on the mossy bank and look out over the tranquil water. As this morning seemed to be made for frivolity, she decided to follow the impulse and walked faster.
She rounded the bend just someone was emerging from the pond—anakedsomeone. Without thinking, she ducked behind a tree just off the path and prayed she hadn’t been spotted. The rough bark dug into her back, but she would have given anything to melt completely into the surface at this moment.
It was a man. Probably some local farmhand, as the pond was a popular swimming spot with the villagers. Alex slowly peered out from behind the tree. Only a few yards away stood the man. Hefaced the water and was leisurely wrapping a towel around his lean waist. As he was obviously occupied with drying himself, now was the perfect opportunity to sneak away. But just as she resolved to run off, something caught her eye. The man appeared to have a tattoo on his upper left shoulder. She squinted, trying make it out, when she noticed the small gold hoop glinting in the early morning light amid the strands of wet, golden brown hair clinging to his neck. As a droplet of water slid down between his well-formed shoulders, her breath caught in recognition.Oh God.The man wasn’t some farmhand. It wasLucien. Alex quickly darted back behind the tree just as he turned around. If he saw her now, she would never recover. And he certainly wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Not when it looked like she wasspyingon him!
Alex peeked around the tree as far as she dared. His back was to her once more while he now dried his hair with the towel—which left the rest of him entirely uncovered. She forced her gaze away from his bare backside and muttered a curse. This situation was growing worse by the second. She needed to get out of here.Now.With great care, she took a step, then another. But every dried leaf and twig underfoot sounded as loud as an elephant crashing through the jungle. Perhaps it was better if she just made a run for it and hoped he couldn’t tell it was her. But just as Alex took a lunging step forward, the hem of her dress snagged on a jagged branch sticking out of the ground and she fell to her knees in a loud crunch. She froze in terror and in the silence that followed, Alex was able to delude herself into believing that, actually, she hadn’t beenthatloud. Then, the blissful moment came to an end.
“Is someone there?” Lucien’s sharp voice rang out through the forest.
Alex snapped to attention and began to furiously tug on her skirt, but the blasted thing wouldn’t come loose. She glanced back to see that Lucien was pulling on his trousers and cursed again. Then pulled harder.
“Show yourself!” he bellowed, now throwing on his shirt.
She decided to rip the hem to free herself and was very nearly there when Lucien stormed over, an impressive look of menace on his face. But once he registered who she was, the menace turned into shock.
“Miss Atkinson?”
Alex cleared her throat and slowly came to her feet, trying her best to look unperturbed. As if this was a perfectly normal situation that she was entirely in control of.
“I think you can call me Alex now.”
Lucien only stared back at her, dumbfounded.
He hadn’t buttoned the shirt. Or put on shoes. Alex dearly wished she didn’t know how shapely his chest was.
Or his backside, for that matter.
Alex pursed her lips as she tried to marshal her ridiculous thoughts, then decided it would have been far better to have left her skirt entirely behind if it meant she could have avoided this conversation.
“I’m sorry,” she said with all the formality she could muster. “I didn’t mean to intrude on you. Truly. I was taking a walk and decided to come to the pond.”
“Of course,” he replied with a confused frown. “I didn’t think anyone would—”
“There’s no need to explain yourself,” Alex said haltingly as she tried to look anywhere but at him.
Hereallyshould button his shirt.
Lucien appeared to have the same thought as he glanced down. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said as he turned away and began to button his shirt.
“I should go.”
But he threw her a look over his shoulder. “Please don’t.”
Alex cleared her throat. “Fine.”
Then she clasped her hands against her waist and averted her gaze while he hurriedly buttoned his shirt.
