Page 67 of Holding Onto Love

*

The days grew increasingly hot. Jasper, Hazard, and Olivia rode out to the lake. Hazard pulled the skiff from the boathouse and took Olivia for a row, while Jasper sat, sweating, in the limited shade. He’d brought Georgiana here, he remembered, but could not recall what they’d discussed.

And that, he supposed, demonstrated the effort he had put into wooing her.

Irritated, he stripped down to his drawers and dove into the water. It was bracingly cold. He swam with brisk, strong strokes until his body warmed and his muscles started to ache. Then he returned to shore and dropped to the grass to dry off.

He heard far-off laughter, Olivia and Hazard’s. He peered across the lake to see Olivia rowing and Hazard lounging. It made him smile.

He lay back in the grass and closed his eyes. He drifted a bit, not fully asleep but dreaming. The itch of water evaporating from his skin pulled him back in time to the bath he had given Vanessa. For such a beautiful woman, she was shy about her body. It drove him mad. He’d convinced her, once, to wear nothing but a long string of pearls. She was a sight to behold. But she hadn’t been able to relax, and he suspected it had not been very good for her. The bath though, that she had enjoyed.

A smile curved on his lips. He’d washed her hair first. Massaged her scalp. And then used that bit of silk to tickle every part of her. He’d been desperately aroused. He was aroused now, remembering.

Her enjoyment had been…loud. And she’d thrashed enough to empty half the tub onto the floor. His shirtsleeves and trousers ended up soaked.

Ah, Vanessa.

He heard the boat scrape against the dock. He opened his eyes to see Hazard handing Olivia out. Hazard saw him. Then he spun Olivia around.

“Did you see that fish jump? Look! My God. It looked like a whale!”

“Where?” Olivia laughed and slapped at Hazard’s arm, while he held her firmly. “You’re imagining things. Again.”

Jasper grabbed his trousers and yanked himself into them. Then pulled his shirt over his head. Hazard cast a look over his shoulder before releasing Olivia. Hazard’s expression was strange. Annoyed, yes. Half amused. But mostly embarrassed. Jasper was horrified.

He pulled on his stockings, then his boots, slowly. Hazard walked Olivia in a rather wide circle past him. Then he helped her mount her horse.

“Why don’t you fly on back to the house?” Hazard said. “Your brother and I will lag behind. He looks sun stricken.”

Olivia cast a glance his way, then laughed. “No, he always looks that way.”

Hazard slapped the horse’s rump and Olivia started homeward. Hazard did not move from his spot.

Jasper got to his feet ungracefully, staggering a little if truth be told.

Hazard cut a look at him. “You should probably spend an hour with a woman.”

“Shut up.”

“Have you not? Since…” He counted back. “Since November?”

“That isn’t any of your business.”

Hazard shook his head. “Not since November. Tell me: Have you even been tempted?”

“Shut up.”

Hazard walked around, cinching the saddles on their mounts. Giving Jasper time to shake off his torpor and his embarrassment. Then he mounted his horse and looked to Jasper with an expression that said: Are you ready?

Jasper put his foot in his stirrup and swung a leg over his saddle. They started for the house in silence. And Jasper realized how odd it was, how unlike Hazard, to shut up.

*

Politics was the safest topic, though it should not be, given they had diametrically opposite views.

Dusk had deepened and footmen had lighted a few lamps on the small terrace. Chaumbers was beautiful in the late evenings. Ha! Much more beautiful than it was during the day. Daylight accentuated its architectural flaws.

There was a cool breeze on the terrace and a few stars had begun to peep out. In only three days, Jasper was due back in London and wished now that he had arranged to stay longer. He and Hazard were sipping lemonade and arguing. No, not arguing. Discussing.