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Chapter Two
Aurora erupted infits of coughing.
Not gentle coughs, either.
Perin put an arm around her, not knowing what else to do to calm her. “She is only teasing you, Lady Aurora. It is a private jest between the Croft family and myself.”
“A jest?” Her eyes were tearing from the strain, so he ran his thumb along her cheek to wipe them away.
“Yes. Truly.” Only he wasn’t so sure he wanted it to remain a mere jest. The girl was lovely beyond belief. If he could have kissed her here and now, he would have. However, he did not have a death wish and was not so foolish as to attempt it. Her father and his brothers would come after him with rifles in hand, not to force him to the altar, but to shoot him stone cold.
He wasn’t fit to marry an earl’s daughter, and they all knew it.
But a kiss?
Perhaps he had a death wish after all, for he was going to kiss her.
He did not know yet where or when.
Of course, he was not going to do it against her wishes.
But he knew women, and she had been looking at him with desire. However, she was too innocent to understand her own feelings.
As for him, he was not innocent at all.
But he had still felt that kick to his heart the moment she bent to collect her fallen bundles and gazed up at him with big eyes the exquisite color of fine brandy. The world had stopped for him at that moment. Nothing and no one now existed for him but Aurora.
It was an absurd feeling.
It would pass, of course.
In time.
Just how much time it would take, he did not know.
Perhaps it would never pass, and he would never forget her.
Yes, this was likely to be his unfortunate fate.
This girl was unforgettable.
She had deep dimples in her cheeks whenever she smiled, and her eyes always seemed to glitter. There were reddish overtones to her auburn hair, noticeable when the sun shone down on her. Little, loose wisps had blown out of her stylishly pinned up hair and sprung free to curl about her ears.
He wanted to nibble her ears.
Kiss her lovely, soft mouth.
Plant kisses all over her heart-shaped face.
He held a cup of tea to her lips. “Take a sip, Lady Aurora.”
She cast him a gentle smile, her hands shaking as she took the cup.
“I had better hold it,” he said, wishing it was his mouth and not the cup he was putting to her lips. “You’ll spill it on yourself.”
She nodded as he helped her.
“Better now?”
