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He had clasped his hands together at his back, and she could feel his restraint. Did he want to take her into his arms? Did he want to kiss her as much as she wanted him to?
He said softly, “An interesting proposition. I shall consider it.”
“Thank you.” She stopped then and felt a moment’s awkwardness. She could find nothing else to say, so she moved to return to the children and the ducklings.
He stopped her. “Is that all, Cherry?”
She smiled. “Should there be more?”
“How did you go on while I was gone?” He answered her question with one of his own.
She laughed. “We managed.”
“Ah, even with Felix’s escapade?” His eyes twinkled.
“You know then?”
Sky chuckled. “Felix told me about his adventure. He enjoyed it immensely.”
“Oh, Sky, I wish you could have seen his face before and after. It was so comical. But he was such a good sport and took a great deal of ribbing from Freddy and James.”
“Ah, I was forgetting James.” Sky stopped and looked at her intently. “An old flame come to visit?”
“An old friend,” she said and looked away to find James coming towards them. She could see a thoughtful expression on his face as he spanned the distance and wondered what he was thinking.
“Hallo,” he called out with a wave.
“Oh no, James, never say you are leaving us already?” Cherry exclaimed.
“No choice. Time ran away with me. Freddy has to hit his books, and I am promised to friends in Southampton, just a bit down the road. Drop in on your tomorrow, sweetheart, and then you and I must have some private conversation.” He nodded at Sky and went after his horse. To Cherry it was obvious he had a great deal on his mind.
He looked to be disturbed by something, and she imagined it was about her situation. He might be determined to talk her into returning to London with him. And the truth of it was, she admitted to herself, he was right, it was time.
~ Nineteen ~
TRUE TO HIS WORD, James arrived the next morning in time to join the Bromleys at breakfast. He piled his dish high with food and kept a lively banter going with both Freddy and Cherry. During this time, Cherry caught him eyeing Sky in what she could only assume he thought was a discreet manner. She knew him, and it wasn’t discreet at all. Something about Sky troubled him.
Then if that were not enough to make her nervous, she noticed Sky watching James from time to time. They appeared like two bucks about to challenge for territory …
She wondered hopefully if Sky was jealous. He couldn’t know she and James were more like brother and sister. She had never had the pleasure of a sibling, nor had he, and from their early days that was how they saw one another. Sky couldn’t know that, she mused to herself.
Suddenly Sky put threw down his napkin and pushed away from the table. Cherry said, “Leaving us already?”
“No, just stretching my legs.” He smiled at her.
She blushed because the look in his dark blues flashed through her. She could feel his desire, and it matched her own. When he moved near her chair, his thigh brushed against her shoulder and she felt a spark sizzle through her blood.
She looked across the table to see James studying her face with great interest and hurriedly looked away. He would know. He knew her too well, and he would guess that she was ‘taken’ with Sky Westbrooke at the very least.
A moment later she was gathering up the twins and ushering them off with her to the schoolroom for lessons. Felix grumbled, but Francine skipped happily along.
“She is really good with them,” James remarked thoughtfully. “Absurd chit—who would have thought it?”
“What is that you say?” Sky rounded on him, wondering what the devil the scamp meant talking about his Cherry in that familiar way.
“Well …” James attempted to cover his slip. “What I meant was that, well, Cherry and I have been friends ever since we started toddling about … same age nearly … and well, I have never before realized how capable she is with children. Most charming.”
“Miss Cherry is more capable than most women in her position,” Sky returned frostily, liking James much more than he wanted to.
