Page 68 of Pleasantly Pursued

“Of course, ma’am.”

I crossed to the window in time to see Benedict pass over the lawn. My view was not of the stables, but the back of the house, and his direction appeared to be that of the folly. My heart ticked up in speed watching him ride away, his seat steady and smooth, his posture straight.

Those hands which now so firmly gripped the reins had held me last night as gently as though I was porcelain. I shut my eyes to remove the image. It was never to be.

Spinning on my heel, I said, “If you do not have any need of me now, I think I shall go for a ride.”

Lady Edith raised her eyebrows and looked to the window behind me. “Is it not too cold?”

“My habit is warm, and I will wear my pelisse over it.”

“Of course.” She looked suspicious but backed from the room. “I’ll leave you to change then.”

Hannah set about pulling my habit from beneath the pile of gowns. By the time it was free and I was dressed, I was nearly certain I would miss Benedict completely. It was a fair distance from my room to the stables, and Luna did not stand idle for her saddle this morning, making it take a little more time. My body was anxious with the need to be on her back and riding through the wind, anxious to talk to Benedict.

We needed to have this conversation where we were certain we would not be overheard. I needed to tell him that he could never kiss me.

Once I was seated, I took Luna’s reins and directed her toward the hills with fervor. I swept my gaze along the grassy knolls, through the trees in search of a rider, but did not see him. When I reached the folly, I circled the structure, but again, it was vacant. There was nowhere else I’d thought to look, nowhere else I knew of where he would go.

I was convinced I had missed him somehow, that I had waited too long to join him and he’d passed me on his return to the house over a different hill. Disappointment swept through me, and the cold shook my arms, my gloved fingers struggling to maintain their hold on the reins. Winter approached with ferocity, and the chill in the air penetrated all my layers, slowly driving me angry.

“Thea?”

I turned Luna toward the sound and found Benedict approaching on the other side of the folly, as though he’d gone even further north and was now returning to the house. I had not missed him entirely.

“Benedict,” I said.

“You are alone?”

“Yes, and forget any ideas of chivalry or gallantry. I will not come down from this horse to be swept into your arms again.”

He directed Jasper closer until his knee nearly grazed mine. I could reach for him, if I wished to.

I wished to.

“You are not required to come down from the horse,” he said. “I will never make you do anything you do not want to do. Though, in defense of my honor, you seemed a perfectly willing participant last night before we were interrupted. If I am incorrect in my assumption, please tell me so straight away.”

I swallowed. Dratted Benedict, forcing me to reveal bits of my fragmented heart. “You are not incorrect.”

His blazing smile had a remarkable effect on my stomach, making it swirl in anticipation. I wanted to scold it. There would be no anticipating, because there was to be no kissing.

“But,” I continued, “it is not to happen again.”

His smile dimmed somewhat. “Care to explain why it should not happen again when it was entirely enjoyable and something we each wanted?”

Benedict wanted to kiss me. I knew it from the gentle way he approached me last night and the way he flirted now. It made my rejection even harder to deliver, for how badly I wanted to be kissed by him.

“You are a flirt, Ben.”

He seemed taken aback by this response and tucked his chin a little. “You say the wordflirtas though it is the lowest of setdowns.”

“Perhaps because I feel that it is.”

“You seem to enjoy it when I flirt with you.”

This was going to be harder than I imagined. “Yes . . . but that is the problem. It has always been the problem.”

“Will you please come down from that horse and talk to me about this?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com