“I wanted to court you – intended to make my intentions known shortly after the Ashbrook ball, but then catastrophe struck and my plans were wrecked. I was furious with Papa and Finkley. Mostly because they’d denied me the chance to prove my regard for you, to assure you I wanted marriage. Instead, I feared you’d always believe I was forced into it and then, when you responded as you did, I was certain I had been wrong to imagine you returned my affection. I thought you resented me.”
When all she did was gaze at him, he dipped his head, giving her every chance to retreat as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. She did not move away. Indeed, she wound her arms around his neck and pressed into his embrace. Lord, how foolish they’d been and how much time they’d wasted, not to mention the energy they’d expended on negative emotions. All because they hadn’t been open and honest with one another right from the start.
From now on he meant to show her exactly how much he loved and desired her.
A sensual whimper parted her lips, and he deepened the kiss, tasting her as she clung to him, her response so enthusiastic it rendered him breathless.
“As much as I long to take you to bed right now and make up for lost time,” he murmured while kissing his way down her neck, “we have guests to attend to.”
“I know.” She dug her fingers into his shoulders and arched against him. “Perhaps you can help me get changed?”
When he leaned back and spotted the wicked gleam in her eyes, devilish thoughts immediately swamped his brain. “I’ll have to get you out of this nightgown first.”
“The quicker the better,” she told him in a husky voice. “As you say, there are guests to attend to.”
So there were, but they could wait a while longer. Right now, the only person who mattered to him was Caroline, and he had every intention of proving to her how much he longed for her to be his.
December 13
Trapped in a Carriage on Christmas Eve
Evangeline Richards hastened through the dimly lit hallway of Lancaster House, wondering where best to hide. The gifts had been distributed and the last of the confections devoured while enjoying the pricy bottle of champagne Papa had saved for the perfect occasion. He’d insisted, for tonight was no ordinary Christmas Eve. It was the day upon which his eldest son, Richard, and his wife, Mary, announced they were expecting their first child.
The swift click of footsteps caught Evangeline’s attention, and she stopped to listen, holding her breath while pressing herself against the wall until they faded. Her parents had always loved filling the house to capacity for the holidays. Family and friends alike came for a week–long stay, eager to participate in the various games Mama always planned. Presently, they played hide and go seek, and with twenty people all eager to find the best spots, squirreling away somewhere secret was no easy task.
But Evangeline had spent the last year considering the perfect location in which to hide. Provided she could get to it without being discovered. She pushed away from the wall and hurried onward. With her cousins Reginald and Kat as the seekers, she’d have to be fast.
Voices travelled through the hallway, prompting her to speed up. The squeal she heard suggested someone had already been discovered while she had yet to hide. Heart racing, she ran toward the door she sought and swung it open. A chill swept over her shoulders and her breath misted the air. Unconcerned since she’d prepared her spot that morning, she closed the carriage house door.
A smile curved the edge of her mouth. Standing in the far corner, exactly as she’d instructed the head groom, was the family’s two seat brougham carriage. Never used during house parties, it sat covered by a large canvas sheet. If her maid had done as she’d asked as well, a hot brick and blankets would lay inside.
Eager to dispel the cold seeping into her bones, Evangeline wound her way past the larger landau, stepped forward, and lifted the canvas. Her hand found the brougham’s handle easily enough and in the next second she was inside. The door swung shut at the exact same moment she realized she wasn’t alone.
“What on earth?”
A deep exhalation came from the large body filling the space beside her. And then an all too familiar voice said, “Just when I was getting bored, the Lord provides entertainment.”
Evangeline’s heart slammed against her breast while her stomach began doing cartwheels. James Collins, Viscount Ravensby, Richard’s best friend, was here. With her. In a carriage. Alone.
Desperate for calm amid the turmoil now causing her world to spin, she took a deep breath and tried not to panic. How long had she admired this man from afar? Since she’d been seven, eight, nine? She couldn’t recall. What she did know was that her skin always heated when he was near, which had made for a rather uncomfortable three–hour Christmas dinner with him seated beside her.
Yet he’d not been as close to her then as he was now. Not since she was a child had they been in such proximity with each other. He’d given her piggy back rides back then and had even carried her to the house once when she’d been twelve and had sprained her ankle. But then, when she’d turned sixteen, it was as if a wall dropped between them. Since then, ever polite and respectful, James kept her at arm’s length whenever he’d visited Lancaster House. He’d spoken to her of course and they’d played cards and gone for walks. But others had always been present and he’d never touched her. And he’d always stepped away, allowing her father or brother or some other male relation to offer assistance if it were required.
Goodness, but she could feel the entire length of his thigh now, pressing boldly against hers. It was most improper but also a rather exciting jolt to her senses. Awareness raced through her, reminding her of how desperately she longed to have more from him than cordial conversation and…distance.
Well, there was no distance now. Pulse racing, nervous and unsure of what to do next, she blurted the first thing that came to mind. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
She wasn’t wrong, James mused, adjusting himself to the idea of finally having Evangeline – Evie – pressed up against him for even the briefest instant. The sensation was nothing short of exquisite and, devil that he was, entirely of his own making. Not that he was sorry. He’d not regret allowing himself this moment with her – a moment he’d dreamt of since he’d become aware of the deeper feelings he harbored.
Such emotions had wrought havoc on his twenty–year–old mind and body when she’d had her coming out three years ago. They’d also terrified the hell out of him, because he knew what they would lead to if he wasn’t careful.
As was often the case with young ladies, Evie’s life had been sheltered until that age. The only unmarried man she’d known besides her relations had been him. And the last thing he’d wanted was to be the comfortable choice for her. Indeed, it would have killed him if they had married and he’d learned she didn’t yearn for him as much as he yearned for her.
So he’d done the sensible thing and retreated, allowed her the space she needed to entertain suitors while doing his best to refrain from murdering some of the fops he’d watched her dance with.