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And that was more arousing than she thought it would be.
Arousing? Why are you using that word to describe how you’re feeling? It’s not arousing.
But it is nice. That’s hardly arousing!
“So, I think I’ll take my leave.” North cleared his throat and approached her. “I apologise for barging in like I did, but I wanted you to have a gift from me.”
“You just wanted to catch me off-guard, didn’t you?”
A smile tugged at his mouth. “Partly. But I did want to give you flowers. A beautiful woman like you deserves them.”
Ellie didn’t know what to say to that. Then, she felt like she was frozen in stone as North leaned in and kissed her cheek. For a second, she forgot how to breathe, and all she could feel were the warm imprints of his lips on her skin. His breath tickled her cheek, so close to her mouth. Ellie almost closed her eyes and leaned into him.
God, she needed to get her head checked out. Just a couple of interactions, and a somewhat chaste kiss on the cheek, and she was collapsing into mush before him. Not a good idea.
North eased back, his eyes piercing as he looked at her. Then, he gave her a bow.
“Good day, Lady Eleanora. I hope you’ll allow me to call another time with more flowers.”
“More flowers?”
“You’ve got to have more to catch up with your sisters, don’t you?” He smiled. “I’m happy to buy whatever you want.”
“There’s no need—”
“I insist.” North reached out and brushed his fingers against her chin. “Good afternoon, Eleanora.”
Ellie couldn’t move as he stepped away, heading towards the door. Then he was gone, closing the door behind him, leaving Ellie wondering what on earth had just happened.
Chapter 7
“So, let me get this straight,” Randall said as he sat forward, staring at Derrick like he had gone mad. “You decided to buy flowers and take them to the woman you said was pretending to be a spinster. But as soon as you gave her the flowers, you got scared and decided to run away?”
“I didn’t run away!” Derrick protested.
“You just handed her flowers and left! I’d say that would classify as running away.” Randall snorted. “Honestly, Derrick, flirting and seducing you can handle, but when it comes down to actually charming a woman for courtship, you’re terrible.”
“Who said I wanted to court her?”
“Well, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never bought flowers for a woman. Which means you’re somewhat serious, if not completely serious, about Lady Eleanora Drummond.” Randall shook his head. “Now that is something I wasn’t expecting from you.”
Derrick scowled at his friend. “I came to you for advice, Randall. I didn’t want you to scoff at me for doing something I’ve never done before.”
“So, you’re serious about this? You’re interested in a woman who was pretending to be older than she was so she wouldn’t get any attention?”
“Pretty much.”
Randall burst out laughing, which resulted in him coughing and having to put his glass down. Derrick shook his head.
“You really need to breathe properly when you’re drinking, Randall.”
“I… it’s just…” Randall was still chuckling even as his face went red with the coughing. He slumped back in his chair. “I was not expecting any of that. When you said this was important, I thought it was about something else. About a woman who got your attention when she was trying to get it away from her? That is quite amusing.”
“I suppose I’d be laughing myself if I were looking at this from an outside perspective.” Derrick ran his hands over his face. “I felt like a fool doing that. In the beginning, I thought I was doing well, and this would be fine. But as soon as I gave her the flowers, everything I had planned went out of my head, and I needed to get out of there.”
“You panicked.”
Derrick didn’t want to think about it like that, but there was no other way he could describe it. He had panicked the moment he actually saw her without all of the stuff slapped onto her face. With her skin clear and fresh, her beauty shone through. Derrick’s mind had gone blank. Sure, he had encountered plenty of beautiful women before, but none of them had made him feel like he had been punched in the gut.
