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She smiled suddenly, her lips settling into a beautiful curve. “I think you only need to look at them once to know that the love between them is real.”
Richard chuckled hoarsely. “I would never take you for a woman who believed in such a maudlin sentiment.”
She pursed her lips. “I am not as jaded as you, my lord. I do believe love exists. I just do not believe it’s a feeling suited for me.”
Richard frowned, trying to guess her motivations, but he couldn’t. She was a closed book to him. “You think that love is not for you and neither are liaisons. What feelings are for you, Miss Claremont?”
She laughed but didn’t answer. Instead, she leaned back on her hands and threw back her head, watching the stars.
He studied the soft curve of her neck, her plump, shapely lips for a long moment, before assuming the same pose and turning to the sky.
He widened his arms to better accommodate his weight and brushed his little finger against hers. Accidentally… at first.
He raised his finger and brushed her skin again. She didn’t say anything. As if she hadn’t noticed. But he knew that she had. Her breath hitched, and gooseflesh ran across her skin.
Slowly, his second finger was circling over her knuckles. She moved her fingers, grazing them against his.
Richard became bolder and covered her hand with his. She didn’t say anything. It was as though she didn’t notice. Except she widened her fingers until they entwined with his. Richard smiled, his thumb still brushing over her skin.
“I love watching the stars,” she said on a sigh.
One side of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “Sam, my youngest sister, was interested in astronomy. She loved it. Devoured the books. Our father even bought her a telescope.”
“How lovely. And what about you? Did you like astronomy as well?”
He shrugged. “I watched the stars with her a few times. I was more into marine biology.”
“Truly?” She turned toward him, her eyes widening with surprise.
He grinned. “Truly. Well, at first, I just wanted to be a pirate.”
Miss Claremont laughed musically. “You didn’t!”
“I did. In my defense, I was only eight. But then I got fascinated with the sea and sea creatures. I spent days and nights devouring encyclopedias… I wanted to be a scientist.”
She smiled at him. “Then what happened?”
Richard stiffened. “It wasn’t meant to be. I was meant to become a viscount.”
Miss Claremont frowned. “Couldn’t you be both?”
Richard shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t have enough time to devote to my studies once I started taking over running the estates. And it turned out to be for the best. My father was ill for a few years before his death, and had I not been prepared, had I roamed the seas as I dreamed, there would be no one competent to continue his work.”
She didn’t say anything. She stared at him with her dark, chocolate gaze for a moment before turning back toward the sky. They sat silent for a while, watching the beautiful and rare clear sky. A light breeze blew from the side, bringing with it Miss Claremont’s wonderful scent. Rosewater.
He turned and studied her face. Her head was tilted back as she looked up at the sky, her smooth, milky neck bared to his gaze. Her plump lips were pursed in thought.
“Have you ever wanted to be someone you couldn’t?” he asked.
“Hmmm…” she hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose I did. I wanted to be the Queen of England.”
They both erupted in laughter. “But it was more like your pirate fantasy. I was young. My mother was… um… working all the time.”
Richard noted the slight hesitation. “Was she an actress, too?”
Miss Claremont swallowed and nodded. “At first, yes.” She lowered her head and turned toward him. “But I never wanted to be a scientist. I suppose I wanted to be a writer. Creating unknown worlds sounded as romantic to my young mind as being a marine biologist to you… Instead, I started writing plays. So, in a way, I did become who I wanted to be. Even if my plays are only for small audiences such as these.”
“Why not create something for a big stage?”
