Evander turned, jaw clenched. “Yes. Ready my horse at once.”
As the butler disappeared to carry out the order, Evander forced himself to take a deep breath.She’s only going to her brother’s. It isn’t far. It’s broad daylight. She’ll be fine.
But even as he repeated it in his head, the unease in his gut refused to dissipate.
She had to be safe.
She had to be.
Because the alternative was unthinkable. And Evander didn’t think he could survive losing her—not now.
17
Olivia kept her gaze fixed on the window as the coach brought her closer to her brother’s townhouse. Rows of tidy brick houses and flickering lamplight gave way to shaded trees and cobbled lanes, but she scarcely noticed. Her thoughts were too loud, too persistent.
She hadn’t needed a break from Evander himself—far from it. She needed space because being near him stirred feelings she could no longer contain. There had been a time when friendship was enough, when the quiet safety of their camaraderie had been all she desired. But that kiss… that blasted kiss had upended everything.
Now, she couldn’t look at him without remembering the way his lips had moved over hers—tentative at first, then certain. It had been the kind of kiss that left one unsteady, the kind that lived in the memory long after it had passed. And ever since, something in her had shifted. She didn’t want a marriage of convenience. She wantedhim. In every sense.
But what if he did not feel the same?
Her heart gave a nervous flutter. Evander would never mock her or respond with cruelty—she trusted him too much tobelieve that—but rejection from someone she had come to love would be its own kind of devastation. How could she return to being simply friends after that?
The coach rocked slightly as it slowed, the sound of the horses’ hooves softening on the stones. She turned just in time to see the door open, startled to find Lord Harwood climbing in.
Her brow arched with suspicion. “What, pray tell, are you doing here?”
“I needed to speak with you,” he said, settling across from her. He spoke as if that alone excused the impropriety of it all.
Before Olivia could gather her wits enough to retort, the coach door swung open and one of her footmen appeared, his face a mask of alarm and hostility as he sized up the uninvited passenger. “Get out!” he ordered.
Lord Harwood didn’t so much as flinch under the glare. Instead, his gaze remained fixed upon her. “Please, Olivia. Just hear me out.”
Olivia pursed her lips together. How dare he, knowing full well the danger he posed to her reputation? “You do realize the precariousness of the situation you put me in?”
“I do,” came his simple reply.
She exhaled slowly. “Very well. I will hear you out.”
The footman looked to her for confirmation, then—albeit reluctantly—closed the door. The coach jerked back into motion, causing Olivia to sway slightly in her seat.
She narrowed her eyes. “And you do realize what would happen if anyone saw us alone like this?”
“We are family friends.”
“I am a married woman, Joseph,” she said sharply. “Everything has changed. We are not children anymore.”
He gave a rueful smile. “If my brother hadn’t been such a fool, you would have been married to him.”
Olivia’s stomach twisted, but she kept her tone composed. “It was for the best.”
Joseph tilted his head. “I’m not entirely sure that’s true. He was miserable after he married. He did it for the dowry, not for love.”
“Well, that was his decision. Not mine.”
He leaned forward, his voice softer. “You were the best thing that ever happened to him.”
She drew back slightly. “It matters not. What’s done is done.” Her voice was firm. “And I am married to Evander now.”
