AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just a few moments ago she had wondered if her day could get any worse; now she knew.
“I am fine thank you, Mr Addison, please don’t let me keep you,” she replied carefully, and waited for him to pass.
If the scowl on his face is anything to go by, he clearly wants to be anywhere but here too, she thought moro
sely. Not that she could blame him. She was cold, wet, miserable, and wished she had not left the house at all that morning. Right now she would rather be anywhere but stuck by the side of the road in the pouring rain.
To her consternation, he didn’t move. What was he waiting for? Why wasn’t he going home to get out of this rain?
Ben briefly contemplated what to do. He could hardly call the lady a liar to her face, but he had seen her discomfort with his own eyes; she was most definitely not alright. She was in considerable pain. Did she hate him so much that she would rather suffer pain and permanent injury than accept his help?
He pushed down his hurt with a glare. He wanted to get down and at least find out what had happened to her in the short amount of time that had passed since she had left the church. Unfortunately, given the blank look on her face and the stiff, somewhat awkward way she held herself, he knew that any attempt at friendship, or even help, would most probably be firmly rebuffed.
“Do you need any help?”
“No, thank you.”
When he continued to study her, Beatrice began to suspect that he wanted her to try to walk again, but refused to prove to him that she had lied. She threw him a defiant look and waved toward the empty lane before them.
“Please, don’t let me keep you.” Unfortunately, her bravado was ruined by the rather loud sneeze she couldn’t control and she wished, right there and then, that the ground would just open up and swallow her.
“Good day,” Ben snapped and doffed his imaginary cap as he nudged his horse into a walk. He glared at her as he passed, but she didn’t look up and meet his gaze. He wasn’t sure if that annoyed him more than her refusal to accept his help.
He cursed himself for being several kinds of fool for being attracted to a stubborn woman, but had little choice than to walk right on by, and leave her at the side of the road. It went against everything within him to leave a stranded lady alone, but he could hardly kidnap her, and she had made it more than clear that she wasn’t prepared to accept his help.
Still, each step the horse took felt like a mile and, by the time he turned out of the end of the lane, he knew that he just couldn’t do leave her.
CHAPTER TWO
“If you can’t get home now, you have only yourself to blame,” she muttered in disgust as she watched him disappear out of the end of the lane. She suddenly regretted her decision not to call him back and ask for help because now, thanks to her stubborn pride, she had foolishly put herself into a ridiculous situation whereby she needed a miracle to be able to get home at all.
She sighed deeply and studied a gap in the hedge a few feet away. A five bar gate led to a field beside her and, although it didn’t lead her directly to her driveway, if she cut across it she could reduce her journey by at least a third of a mile. It was her only option right now because her ankle throbbed mercilessly, and her boot had started to feel incredibly tight. It was becoming increasingly evident that if she didn’t start to move soon she was not going to go anywhere at all, and the last thing she needed was to be stuck out on the lane overnight.
With no hope of anyone else passing by anytime soon, she took one last, dour look at the empty road, and began to hobble awkwardly toward the field.
Damned fool woman will be the death of herself, Ben snorted in disgust as he watched her stumble across the field. It was a miracle that she didn’t fall flat on her face. Although he tried to harden his heart and go home, he just couldn’t bring himself to abandon her. He knew that if he went home, he wouldn’t settle until he could be sure that she had reached Brantley Manor safely.
However, he could hardly stand behind the hedge all afternoon; he had to do something.
When she struggled for several more minutes and almost fell over, he decided that enough was enough. If he had to kidnap her to get her to let him help then that is what he would do. Anything was better than having to watch her stumble along in such pain. Finally, when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he shook his head in disgust and went after her.
Beatrice frowned at the ground beneath her feet and listened to the heavy thudding noise grow steadily louder. She looked up, and her stomach immediately dropped to her toes when she saw who was galloping toward her.
“Oh, Lord,” she whispered as she studied his dark frown. The sight of him, tall and resplendent atop his huge black horse was a sight that stirred her to her soul but, from the dark glare on his face, he posed more of a threat to her than the horse.
A deep sense of foreboding swept through her as she watched him rein the horse to a stop a few feet away. Unfortunately, there was nowhere she could hide so she had little choice but to stand still and wait to hear what he had to say.
She opened her mouth to speak to him when he quickly dismounted and strode toward her but, to her consternation he immediately swept her off her feet without giving her the chance to speak. All she could do was cling on to his broad shoulders in silence as he carried her to the horse and lifted her effortlessly onto the saddle.
“Come on, let’s get you home.” His voice was soft and gentle as he mounted the horse behind her and wrapped her in his arms.
At first, she was tense and nervous at being so close to a man; and this man in particular. However, her tension wasn’t fuelled with wariness or distrust; this was something deeper and far more intense, only she couldn’t put a name to what it was. Was it attraction? Was it awareness? Whatever it was it held her spellbound, and unable to think of anything other than just how handsome he was up close.
With no room to manoeuvre, she had little choice but to settle against him and allow him to hold her. She looked up at him and watched a single rivulet of rainwater trickle slowly down his face. He seemed completely oblivious to its progress, but she stared raptly at it as it clung for several moments to the edge of his jaw. Her fingers clenched against the need to reach up and brush it away but, thankfully, it disappeared into the finely woven material of his sodden jacket before temptation got the better of her.
This was the first time she had seen him up close and he was, incredibly, even more handsome than she had thought he was. His eyes were a warm amber colour and framed with the thickest, and longest, lashes she had ever seen on anyone, male or female. How could she have ever thought he was cold and aloof? He was by far the most vibrant man she had ever seen in her life.
“Are you alright?” he murmured, acutely aware of her steady gaze. He had tried to ignore the fact that she was staring at him, but those beautiful blue eyes had started to distract him to the point that he just had to speak, or he was going to do something that would upset her, like kiss her.
