Her eyes searched his face. She wasn’t retreating, but she wasn’t drawing closer either. He could see the question in them:why are you standing so near?
“I should go,” she said softly, though she made no move to step away.
“Yes,” he agreed. His voice was hoarse, and his feet remained stubbornly in place. “You should.”
Nevertheless, neither of them moved. He should have stepped back. He should have remembered his manners, remembered who they were.
But he didn’t want to. Not just yet.
Not when standing this close to Miss Theodosia felt like the first right thing he’d done in a very long time.
She took a breath. And that breath stole his. He had never been so tempted by a young woman before. Not in all of his life.
His sister’s voice rang out from the doorway. “Good heavens,what am I interrupting?”
Startled, Richard stepped back at once, his movements swift and stiff. “Nothing,” he said—far too quickly to sound convincing.
Olivia’s brow arched in clear disbelief as she sauntered into the room. “It didn’t look like nothing,” she said, her tone lilting with barely concealed amusement. “In fact, it looked quite like something.”
He clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Trust Olivia to appear at the most inopportune moment.
He risked a glance at Miss Theodosia, who now had both hands raised to her cheeks. Her gaze had dropped to the floor, and she seemed to be willing it to swallow her whole. The usually composed woman looked thoroughly flustered—an expression he hadn’t seen on her before and found oddly endearing.
Olivia, of course, noticed everything.Her eyes sparkled with delight as she looked between them. “Well,” she drawled, “it’s a bit late in the evening for private consultations about account ledgers.”
Richard cleared his throat, his expression now stern. “That’s quite enough, Olivia.”
But his sister only grinned wider, unrepentant as ever. “Of course. I shall let you two resume nothing,then.” She turned with a swish of her skirts and disappeared down the corridor, humming as she went.
Silence fell again, heavy with all that had nearly been said—and all that had nearly happened.
Richard looked back at Miss Theodosia. Her hands slowly dropped from her face, though the pink still lingered on her cheeks. Their eyes met, and for a moment, neither of them could summon a single word.
“It is late,” Miss Theodosia said, her voice a touch unsteady. “I should retire for the night.”
Richard gave a small nod, though he couldn’t seem to look away from her. “Yes,” he agreed. “I believe that would be wise.”
She lingered a moment longer, as if considering whether to say more, then offered him a weak smile. But it didn’t quite reach her eyes—not this time. With a graceful dip of her head, she turned and made her way to the door, her footsteps hushed against the carpet.
She didn’t glance back. Not once.
As soon as the door clicked softly shut behind her, Richard exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and sank heavily into the nearest chair.
He stared at the now-closed door, his mind racing, his chest still tight with the echo of what might have been.
What in the blazes had just happened?
One moment they were speaking of ledgers, and the next, he had been drawn to her. Compelled. And she had not pulled away. Not until Olivia’s untimely arrival shattered the spell like glass.
And that was the question that haunted him now, the one that refused to be silenced:what would have happened if his sister hadn’t walked in when she did?
Would he have touched her cheek? Leaned in to kiss her? Would Theodosia have let him?
He scowled at the very thought. It was madness. She was here to lure Mr. Smith out of hiding. Nothing more.
His gaze drifted back to the fire, now burning low. One thing was certain: whatever that moment between them had been,it could not happen again.He would make certain of it. He must.
Even if a part of him—an insistent, unruly part—very much wanted it to.
