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She gave him an odd look that he wasn’t quite sure how to interpret.
He shrugged. “Efficiency.” He closed the carriage door and they started walking up the hill toward the inn.
“Tell me of your grandfather.” She looked up at him. “Is he demanding this—a wife for you—because he’s overbearing? Or is he holding something over your head?”
“No. And no.”
“Then he must be a great man to inspire you to go to such lengths to make him happy?”
He glanced at her, noting her fingers tugging at the edges of the crushed hat as she walked. “The earl is hard. He was once so big—tall and strong—but time has ravaged his body. He’s thin now. But he was once so formidable I thought he was Thor incarnate.”
“You were scared of him?”
“Actually, no. He could make the biggest man quiver in his boots, but he never set that onto me or Gilroy. He was quick to teach us all the ways of the world, to teach us everything we needed to know about running the estate. Honor, loyalty, and mercy. Respect of everyone we encountered, no matter their station.”
A smile came to his face. “When we were wee ones, he used to point out unusual webs of spiders to us when we were in the woods. Ones that stretched so far from branch to branch that it had to have taken the spiders near a lifetime to weave. Dew would oftentimes be clinging to the thin strands, catching the rays of the sun and splintering sparkles in all directions. But he would never let us touch them—we’d always leave the webs and spiders as they were. I was always in awe that a giant of a man like that would notice something so delicate. But he did.”
“He must have your kind eyes, then.” Her blue eyes caught his gaze and for a moment, his breath caught in his throat.
His brow wrinkled. “I have kind eyes?”
“No one has ever told you that? It is fairly obvious.”
He laughed. “No. No one has ever spoken to the kindness of my eyes. I inevitably get comments on my size, but never on my eyes.”
A disbelieving smile crossed her lips and she looked forward. “So why won’t you marry if it is the thing that will make your grandfather happy? It is clear you think the world of him and I don’t imagine you would have difficulty finding a wife. Attending a few balls with open eyes and mind and you would be spoken for.”
A dog with a bone just out of reach, she still wasn’t going to drop the topic.
Evan’s jaw tightened for a second before he relaxed it and shrugged. “Reasons.”
Her face whipped to him, her eyebrows lifting. But she didn’t say a word. Didn’t prod. So, she did contain some restraint.
Admirable.
Five more steps up the hillside and she stopped, turning to him. “This…”
His stride halted and he looked to her.
She pointed back to the carriage. “This wasn’t a mistake, was it?”
“A mistake? Did ye not enjoy yourself?” He knew the answer full well—the screams on her lips had told him that.
“I did. But I do not wish for you to think it was anything more than the watering down of this odd crackle between us that I can’t quite explain.” Her hand flipped back and forth between the two of them.
“I fear that it didn’t sate the crackle as we both had hoped.” He leaned down to her, his voice low at her ear. “As I have had a hard time since you crawled off of me striking from my mind the thought of stripping that dress off your body so I can have full access to every inch of your skin.” He stood straight. “But did it mean more than our bodies meeting? Did you want it to?”
She exhaled a sigh of relief with a shake of her head. “No. If it was about to mean more, I would have to stop our entanglement here and now. So I am glad we are of like mind.”
His head cocked to the side as he stared at her, measuring the truth of her statement. He’d had women lie to him on this score before. But in Juliet, he only saw truth. She’d said that—stark truth was her guiding star. He could see she meant it. “As am I.”
They turned to the inn, walking toward the rear door. Evan’s gaze stayed fixed on the fieldstone wall of the building as an uneasiness settled in his chest that he couldn’t quite place.
He couldn’t afford to let Juliet think this was more than it was—let himself think it was more than it was.
He’d sworn an oath he would not break.
And that meant he needed to push Juliet firmly back into the box he’d initially placed her in. She was an actress hired to make his grandfather happy.
