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“Going arse over teakettle. Indeed not. Now, would you be so kind as to fetch my jacket while I try to, er, arrange myself?”
She tugged on the top of her stays, trying to restore them to some measure of respectability. Grant had beenquiteenthusiastic when he’d yanked them down.
“Sorry about that,” he said with a wince.
He sounded embarrassed, which was ... embarrassing.
Kathleen tugged once more before giving up with a sigh. “It’s fine. The jacket will cover any defects—if it’s dry by now.”
“Right. The jacket,” he said, coming to his feet.
He plucked it off the chair, carefully feeling it for damp spots.
“Seems completely fine.” He handed it to her.
She dumped it on the table before commencing a struggle with her skirt, which was a wrinkled mess and twisted backward. The wrinkles she could blame on spending several hours on a horse and then getting caught in the rain.
“I’m glad something’s fine,” she muttered.
Grant, pulling on his riding jacket, paused to shoot her a quick frown. “What’s wrong, Kathleen?”
She finally got her skirt more or less sorted, then realized that one of her stockings had sagged down to the top of her boot. “Oh, blast.”
He came over to the table. “Can I help?”
“No, thank you.” She half turned away from him as she retied her garter.
“Lass, what is amiss?” Grant enunciated every word, as if she were a dimwit.
She fussed with her skirt a bit more, working up her courage before turning to face him.
He loomed over her, arms crossed over his brawny chest, a concerned frown marking his brow.
She hoped it was concern for her welfare, and not something else.
So, find out.
“Are you having second thoughts?” she bluntly said.
He looked blank for a few seconds. Then he shook his head before tipping up her chin and giving her a brief, hard kiss.
“Don’t be daft. I’m simply anxious to get you safely back home. I don’t want you taking a tumble off your horse in the dark.”
“I have never taken a tumble off a horse in my life.”
“Splendid, but there’s no point in taking chances.” He pulled out a small silver watch from an inside pocket and then grimaced. “Bloody hell. It’s even later than I thought. The entire damn household will be in a stew. First Jeannie disappears and now us.”
Ah.So that’s why he was acting so oddly. He was worrying about how their extended absence would appear. It would certainly raise questions that might be difficult to answer. Ones Grant might not want to answer, given the potential consequences.
Consequences like propriety, a woman’s honor, and possibly even marriage.
Kathleen felt an awful twinge in her heart, as if something had just sprung loose and dropped to the floor.
Don’t think about it right now. Think about Jeannie.
She would sort out her feelings about Grant Kendrick later.
“Let’s hope Jeannie is home by now,” she said as she stuck her arms into her jacket. “If not, we’ll have to get fresh horses and go back out.”
