AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her smile grew wider. “Not at all. I liked it. But I do have a question. If you’re only stable that means you’re not growing.”
“No,” he confessed, worried that he’d allowed this completely conversation to veer off topic. “More equipment would help. Better housing. I’ll get there. It just takes time.”
Millie nodded. “I can imagine.”
“But truly. Enough about that. What does your family have planned for this party? Croquet? Picnics?”
She looked out over the rows of roses. “All of that and more.” Then she gave him a sidelong glance. “Do the activities seem frivolous when compared with work at home?”
He leaned back in surprise. The answer was yes. But how she’d managed that insight when he’d given her so little information... “It is a welcome reprieve.”
She nodded, her eyes flitting up to his for the first time since they’d begun talking and what lit them shook him to the core. Was it awareness he saw? Heat? But she looked down again before he could say for sure.
Still. He wished to know more.
He’d felt a connection and that feeling had been mirrored back in her gaze.
Glancing down at her, he came to stop and she did the same. He turned slightly toward her, noting a bloom of pink roses behind her that only accentuated the color of her dress and the tones of her skin. “May I pick one?” he asked, her chin still turned away.
“Of course.”
He reached out, his arm brushing hers as he carefully avoided the thorns and snapped the branch of the nearest flower.
And then, holding the bloom in his hand, he bent, offering a bow. “For you, my lady.”
She looked at him again, finally, her brows up as she studied him through the delicate lace of her bonnet. She opened her mouth and he stopped breathing, wondering what she might say.
* * *
The cad.
That was Millie’s first thought. Though it was easier to think it when she didn’t stare into his intense chocolate-brown eyes. Whenever she did, she forgot to be annoyed and found herself entranced instead.
But truly. Shouldn’t he be giving that flower to Tillie not her? He should be wooing only one woman here and what if Tillie saw the favor he was paying Millie?
“Save your bloom,” she answered, attempting not to sound breathless.
“Well, I would give it to Tillie but she’d likely lecture me on leaving flowers in their beds for the bees or some such thing.”
Millie smiled again despite herself. Why couldn’t she cease grinning like a fool? “She would say that.” And then she quickly reached over and took the flower.
Their fingers brushed and every nerve in her hand tingled in awareness as she drew in a quick breath of surprise.
Tillie and Juliet had stopped up ahead, also admiring some blooms. Tillie caught her eye, her brows going up and Millie felt her face flame.
What did her sister think of her accepting the flower? She’d only wished to be polite. But then her head dipped again as she winced. That wasn’t entirely true. If she weren’t careful, she’d find the whole thing terribly romantic.
She pulled the rose close, her hands coming to her stomach. The thorn promptly caught on the muslin gown. With a small gasp, she made to pull the flower away again but the thorn held, a soft tearing forcing her hand to stop again. Sure enough, the thorn had pulled a bit of fabric, creating a small hole in her gown.
She grimaced, knowing if her mother saw the rip, she’d have a great deal to say. Even now, Millie could hear her, A debutante must always be perfectly groomed.
“Let me,” Lord Rangeley’s masculine rumble penetrated her ears and her lids snapped back open, her gaze finding his.
But he wasn’t looking at her.
Instead, squatting down, he reached for the rose and began to untangle the thread that had caught. And when he couldn’t get it undone, he pulled off one of his gloves, using his bare hand.
His fingers brushed her abdomen, her breath sucking in as she watched his long, tapered fingers work the string attached to her dress. They were tan from his time in the sun, lean but strong, and her knees went weak all over again.
