He shook his head. “You don’t know what it’s like, to have such a heavy burden dropped upon your shoulders at such a young age. Everybody looks to me for answers, and I don’t have any.”
“It must be very difficult.” She gave a cynical laugh. “But I do know a little bit about how it feels to have no one you can turn to, no one to depend upon but yourself.”
He gave her an abashed look. “I didn’t mean to try and make you feel sorry for me.”
She shook her head. “Oh, I don’t. That would be silly, wouldn’t it? For someone like me to feel sorry for an earl?”
He laughed. “What do you mean, someone like you? I think you’re quite wonderful, Serenity.”
Her heart warmed at his words. “You’re not too bad yourself, my lord.”
He grinned and playfully smacked her hand. “Now, none of that. You promised.”
She gave him an answering grin and then cleared their plates. He went to sit on the sofa, and she refilled her wine glass and joined him. For a while, they sat in silence, simply staring into the flames, but then he turned to her, and she had a feeling that very few people had ever seen him looking this shy and embarrassed.
“Serenity, I must ask you something...” He took a deep breath. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Heat rose in her cheeks as she met his gaze. “I wasn’t sure if you remembered.”
“How could I ever forget?” He glanced down, shaking his head. “You must think me—”
She pressed her fingertip against his lips, silencing him. “You needn’t apologize or explain. I have a pretty good idea what happened to you because it happened to me as well. I think, perhaps, that we were meant to find each other that day. That we both needed a little comfort?”
His lips were warm and firm, incredibly soft and supple. When she realized how very much she wanted to feel those lips against her own, she hastily snatched her hand away.
He sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “Perhaps you are right, and if so, I hope you received as much comfort from me as I did from you. Did you know that I thought you were an angel or a ghost? Something my mind had conjured up to help me cope?”
She smiled a bit and lowered her gaze. She liked the thought of that. She liked it very much.
Instead of turning in early, as she’d planned, she sat up with him, talking and laughing until the fire burned low. He detailed his plans for the new house and how he wanted to build a conservatory and grow exotic plants from around the world.
She mentioned her own love of gardening, and they passed at least an hour talking about that. The conversation flowed so easily between them, no awkwardness, no uncomfortable silences. The experience was entirely new for her, and she sensed it was new for him as well.
As the night wore on, they drifted to deeper topics, and she surprised him by opening up even further about her fears that something truly had happened to her father, her loneliness, and her lack of options. Within the next few days, her life was going to change drastically, in one way or another, and her lack of control over her own circumstances terrified her.
In return, he told her of his stepfather’s abuse, of his younger brother Adrian’s disfigurement in the fire, and how much he still worried about him. He also shared his mother’s unwillingness to believe that her new husband was harming them and how he and his brothers had made up a masked vigilante named Prometheus to survive it.
At last, he leaned forward and took her hands in his. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this evening, Serenity. For some reason, I feel like I can trust you, and I think you know enough about me now to know I don’t give my trust easily.”
His large hands were so warm and comforting. She smiled at him tremulously. “I feel the same way.”
He sighed and looked around the little house. “I have a proposition for you, but please feel free to say no if it makes you uncomfortable in any way.”
A sick feeling bloomed in the pit of her stomach. She’d known he was too good to be true. “What kind of proposition?”
He sighed. “Stay on and help me rebuild the estate. I know it’s highly unusual, but I think that together, we can really make this place special again and, of course, I’ll pay you a wage. We’ll plan the gardens, and you can help me decorate, and in the evenings, we can drink wine and talk the night away.”
Her fear that he was going to say something else entirely left in a whoosh that nearly made her dizzy. “Why don’t we continue to let people believe that my father still lives here, that he’s still your gamekeeper? That way, there won’t be any gossip. No one will be surprised when they don’t see him around. Everyone knows he’s a drunk.”
“Yes, I think that’s a wonderful plan.” He smiled at her and squeezed her hands tightly. “Are you ready to have the best summer of your life?”
She nodded, hope blossoming within her. “Yes,” she whispered. “I am.”
