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‘Good... And no more compliments.’
‘Understood.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Well then, shall we continue?’ He cleared his throat after a few moments of heavy silence, disturbed only by the fierce torrent of the river over the weir below. ‘Perhaps you’d allow me to buy you a cup of tea to make amends? As I recall, there used to be quite a good tea shop on Milsom Street.’
Chapter Four
‘Here we are, Miss Gardiner.’
Sebastian found them a small, octagon-shaped table in one corner of the tea room and tried to think of some innocuous subject to talk about. His companion was pursing her lips so tightly that she resembled a strait-laced and highly strung governess, a look exacerbated by her frankly appalling taste in clothes. She’d seemed tense from the moment they’d left Belles—since he’d come down to breakfast, now he thought about it—but he’d believed that she’d been starting to relax in his company. Obviously not. Whatever camaraderie they’d established during their walk was now completely gone. She seemed a whole different woman from the one who’d accosted him with fire tongs at midnight and he had no idea what the hell had gone wrong.
He folded one long leg over the other and bit back a sigh. In all honesty, he was having regrets about inviting her to walk at all, but ironically, he’d wanted to spend more time with her. Hard as it was to believe or remember why at that moment, he’d wanted to enjoy his newfound freedom with her and a walk in the sunshine. Now he had the impression that she was regretting it, too. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was actually counting the minutes until he took her back to the shop, which didn’t say a great deal for his company, but then he supposed he was somewhat out of practice in talking to the opposite sex.
Months on end at sea with eight hundred other sailors tended to have a somewhat coarsening effect on a man’s manners, which was probably why he’d ended up offending her, although calling her beautiful wasn’t such a terrible thing to do, was it? Especially when he’d been entirely serious. She would have been stunning wearing a sack. And he didn’t even know where to begin with her declaration about loose morals. She was acting as if he’d just tried to seduce her in the street in broad daylight!
Not that he would have been entirely averse to the idea...
‘Thank you.’ Miss Gardiner managed a half-smile as the waitress placed two cups of tea on the table in front of them. ‘And you, too, Mr Fortini. This is very kind.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ He nodded tersely. At least he’d got one thing right that morning. ‘My mother always liked this tea shop. I’m glad it’s still here.’
‘Yes.’ She took a sip and then placed her cup back in its saucer with a loud rattle. Or at least it seemed loud in the silence that followed since neither of them appeared to have any idea what else to say next.
‘Tea in the navy is appalling.’ He groaned inwardly as the words emerged from his own lips. Why not just talk about the weather?
‘Really?’
‘Yes, the leaves get weaker and weaker over the course of a voyage. We had to give up on them eventually on my last ship. Quite a calamity for an Englishman.’
‘I suppose so.’ Her lips un-pursed slightly. ‘Nancy and I were thinking about selling tea at the shop. Or coffee, perhaps, to go with the biscuits. I thought I might suggest it to Anna the next time she visits. Of course, we’ll probably have to hire another assistant, but the shop’s doing well enough that I think we can afford it...’ Her voice trailed away as if she thought she’d just said too much. ‘We’ll see.’
‘It sounds like an excellent idea to me.’ He shifted forward in his seat. ‘Miss Gardiner, about before—’
‘It’s quite all right,’ she interrupted quickly. ‘Perhaps I overreacted. In fact, I probably did. It’s just that I prefer not to be complimented.’
Sebastian resisted the urge to raise his eyebrows at such a curious statement. Surely a woman who looked the way she did received dozens of compliments every day? And compliments were generally considered to be good things, weren’t they? Why would she object? Then again, why would a beautiful woman deliberately dress herself in a garment that resembled nothing so much as an old coal sack? Not to mention a bonnet that seemed intended to drain all the colour from her complexion. Unless she was wearing them deliberately to discourage him from offering any form of flattery? Because she didn’t want to look attractive? He thought back to her earlier protest. I’m not that kind of woman... What the hell kind of impression did she think she’d given him during the night?
He gave a jolt, realising that she was still waiting for an answer. ‘Of course.’
‘In fact, I’d prefer it if you’d speak to me as you would to Anna, as if I’m your sister.’
This time he had to wrench his eyebrows firmly back into place. Apparently, he really had lost his touch with the opposite sex if she was experiencing fraternal feelings towards him. Not that it ought to matter since he was leaving Bath soon anyway, but a man had his pride. Still, if fraternal was what she wanted, then fraternal was what he would give her. Which meant, first and foremost, that he needed to stop paying quite so much attention to her lips. Even pursed, they were still decidedly tempting: plump in the middle, with a peaked cupid’s bow that he wanted to run his finger along. What would it be like to kiss her? he wondered. To slide his hands into her hair and bring her face to his, to press his own lips against her forehead and cheeks, maybe the tip of her nose, then finally her mouth...
‘Very well.’ He cleared his throat, feeling hot under the collar all of a sudden. ‘But I should warn you this gives me licence to pull your hair and untie your apron strings.’
There was a faint spark in her eye. ‘Then I’ll just have to keep my bonnet on and be vigilant.’
‘Excellent idea. You can’t be too careful.’ He leaned backwards, relieved that they’d cleared the air slightly at least. ‘So where shall we wander to next? Up to the Circus?’
The spark faltered and then went out. ‘I think perhaps I ought to return to Belles. I’m not happy about leaving Nancy to mind the shop all alone.’
‘Ah...’ He inclined his head. It seemed she really was counting the minutes, after all, although perhaps she was right and it was better to put their promenade out of its misery before they ended up talking about tea again. ‘As you wish. In that case, I’ll escort you back.’
‘There’s really no need.’
‘There is to me.’ He picked up his teacup with a terse smile. ‘I said I wasn’t much of a gentleman, Miss Gardiner, but I do make a bit of an effort. We’ll leave whenever you’re ready.’
