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“It depends on whose tree it is,” Will sighed. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look up here? You are a grown woman for Heaven’s sake.”
“Do you realise how ridiculous you look talking to a tree?” Georgiana retorted without missing a beat.
Will mentally cursed and had to concede that she had a point. He struggled to contain his disbelief that she was truly up a tree.
“Are you going to come down?”
“No.”
Georgiana continued to munch on her apple and tried to ignore just how handsome he looked standing amongst the long grass. He was an incredibly tall, with dark brown hair and sea green eyes which were simply mesmerising. Together with his powerfully muscled thighs and broad shoulders, he was the epitome of masculinity. He was a man who was aware of his position in the world and wasn’t afraid to use it to his advantage whenever he needed to. Most of the women of his acquaintance usually swooned and simpered whenever they were in his company, especially when he smiled at them. He tried one of those devastating smiles on her now.
Georgiana, though, was beyond all of that now and made no attempt to smile back. Instead, she glared down at him and bit down into her delicious fruit with a loud and very unladylike crunch.
“I am not going anywhere,” Will declared somewhat pompously, and folded his arms as if to prove it.
Georgiana shrugged and stared down at the apple core while she tried to decide what to do now. She might be able to wait for him to leave, but the rough bark of the tree was already digging into the tender flesh of her bottom and was darned uncomfortable, and her toes had gone numb. She had to get down.
She studied the branches below her and mentally plotted. Without giving much thought to what she was doing she began to clamber down the tree in much the same way she had climbed it.
Will stared at her in disbelief, mesmerised by the wanton display of lithe grace as she clambered effortlessly from one branch to another. Once or twice he had the briefest flash of the bare skin of her thighs and was swamped with the memories of her foray into skinny dipping. He began to wonder if she was intentionally trying to drive him out of his mind but refused to turn his back–he daren’t risk it this time in case she fell.
“Good God, you are going to break your neck,” he grumbled as he eyed the distance she intended to drop. When Georgiana let go of the branch anyway he lunged forward to try to catch her before she slammed painfully into the ground.
Georgiana had the sensation of falling. To her horror, she realised that the ground was further away than she had anticipated. Her instinctive cry of alarm was stifled when she found herself caught firmly in Will’s strong grip.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to ignore the fact that she was clinging desperately to his shoulders.
“Saving you from breaking your foolish neck,” he snapped dryly as he lowered her to the floor.
Georgiana stared up at him. In spite of her best effort, she was drawn into the depths of his wonderful sea-green eyes. Something shifted between them–was it the air? Was it anything to do with the tight knot of nervous tension that started to form deep within the pit of her belly? Or the wild flurry of awareness that shimmered through her and drew forth the bittersweet memories of the last time she had been this close to him? Whatever it was, she tried desperately to blank it out because it made her thoughts all muddled.
Will stared at her. She had only been in the village for a matter of a few weeks yet already the changes her time away had wrought upon her were visible. Her cheeks were flushed a dainty pink that emphasised the brilliant sparkle of her wonderful eyes. As if to emphasise her beauty, her once gaunt frame had filled out into womanly curves that brought about maturity that was simply enthralling.
He didn’t remove his hands from her waist and put some distance between them. He should, but was lost to everything but the sensation of having her in his arms again. It was stunning to have the same invisible connection to her slam into him with shocking force. He realised then that he had wanted–needed-to experience it again just to make sure it hadn’t been a figment of his wayward imagination. Now that it was there, he had no idea what on earth he should do about it.
He wasn’t usually a tactile person, especially with the women he usually bedded. He would consider himself more a love them and leave them type of person. The other, more marriageable women of his acquaintance were kept at a very firm, very polite distance. He had never had this particular need to be around any other woman and certainly never been driven to hold any before in the way he did Georgiana. The way he felt when she was before him, next to him, or with him, had nothing to do with comfort or support. Most of the time he just enjoyed being in her company. The feelings surging through him right now were considerably sharper, and purely sexual.
He wanted her. It was as simple as that.
Inevitably, the longer they stood together the more the invisible cord of tension wound around them making it impossible for either of them to step away from temptation. It was impossible to release her. She couldn’t force herself to step backward, out of his embrace. So they remained where they were, frozen in time and place, lost to the rest of the world around them.
“Will,” she whispered hesitantly.
She had no idea what she was asking him for; to kiss her again maybe? To release her and remember who they were; where they were? To show her in some way–any way–that he felt the same way toward her as she still did about him?
“Georgiana,” he murmured huskily as he fell into the depths of her lambent gaze.
Will slowly lowered his head. At the same time, his arms tightened, tugging her infinitesimally closer. His lips hovered tantalisingly against hers for a moment before something suddenly made him stop. Rather than kiss her as she quite evidently wanted, he froze. His eyes widened as he stared at her and watched that flickering flame of desire slowly die in the depths of her horrified gaze.
Georgiana looked up at him and saw regret, concern, and something else she was unable to identify staring down at her.
Will sucked in a fortifying breath and dropped his arms at the same time that he took several steps way. He glanced around them in disgust, but was angry at himself for having forgotten who he was, who she was, and why they were there.
“I can’t do this,” Will whispered, mindful of the mess he had left his parents to try to resolve at home. “I am supposed to marry Penelope Smedgrove.”
“I must go,” Georgiana replied, trying hard to make her voice as devoid of life as possible.
She didn’t bother to wait to see if he intended to accompany her. She picked her shawl off the floor and retraced her steps to Ruth’s house. When she glanced back, she saw the same cold, arrogantly polite disinterest on his handsome features that she had seen before in her father’s study, and cursed herself for her own foolishness.
