Who kept pressing his nose into Eli’s side, likely in search of the carrot hidden there.
Olive lowered her lips from Eli’s. “Let me show you where I like to come and think.”
He tossed carrot offerings over his shoulder at Duke and Mr. Edward as he followed her to the pavilion.
Inside, a thick blanket was on the center of a wood floor. Dishes, a bottle of wine, and a small basket containing bread and cheese and fruit covered half of the blanket.
“It’s a picnic?” he said in surprise.
She gave him a shy smile. “If we wait until spring, you won’t be here. Is it good enough?”
“I adore it.” He adored her.
Over the course of nuncheon and half a bottle of wine, he and Olive talked about everything except the past they’d left behind them and the future that would never be.
Lying side-by-side in the middle of the blanket, Olive explained the inner workings of a village of perennial Yuletide, described her many friends, and the challenges of managing a stud farm whilst being a woman.
Eli told her about all of the wonderful physic gardens of London, the marvels of botany, and its potential for healing as well as beauty.
A slow smile spread across her face.
He stopped talking about carapichea ipecacuanha. “Too much Latin?”
“Not enough.” She rolled onto her side. “How do you say, ‘I am strangely attracted to a man who knows the most intimate details about plant fertilization?’”
Eli had no idea.
“Anthurium andraeanum, camellia chrysantha,” he replied with a straight face.
She narrowed her eyes. “Humph. Can you be trusted?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“As I suspected.” She tilted her head. “I may kiss you anyway.”
“I adore your kisses.” He touched her soft cheek. “And that’s the truth.”
“Shh.” She brushed her lips against his. “What’s Latin for, ‘Just kiss me?’”
They didn’t need words for that.
He drew her to him on the blanket and kissed her.
Having her snuggled up against him was almost too much for his senses.
Even before he opened his eyes in the morning, all he wanted was to taste her kiss. Whenever she was out of reach, he longed to hold her in his arms. Whenever she was out of sight, he yearned to see her face.
Here she was. Lying on top of him. Kissing him back.
He had known before heading north that the reality of having her in his arms again would far outstrip his wildest fantasy. That they were now lying on a wooden floor, out of doors, bundled in layers of wool and leather and yet more wool, only added to the dreamlike quality of the moment.
How he wished their fathers had remained friends rather than become enemies!
Eli would have courted Olive properly from the moment of her come-out... and likely sneaked his fair share of kisses a year or two before.
They might still have found themselves out here in a wooded pavilion on a day like today, but they wouldn’t be counting down to his departure. They would have had the rest of their lives to enjoy one another. This moment would be the first of many such days, not the final and only Christmastide they ever shared.
Eli told her in kisses what he could not tell her in words.
He was angrier than she’d ever know that their fathers’ manipulations had brought them back together... and would soon drive them apart. He was not at all sorry to have a second chance with her, no matter how fleeting. Spending the past week with Olive had created some of the best moments in his life. Memories he would cherish forever.
Just like he wished he could cherish her forever.
“Don’t forget,” she murmured between kisses. “This means nothing.”
“What if it did?” he blurted out.
She lifted her head slightly, her brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”
I mean, I love you.
I don’t want to lose you.
I have no plan.
Or did he?
New Year’s Eve was the end of something old and the beginning of something new. Tomorrow, instead of just beginning a new year, what if they started a new life, together?
“Marry me,” he said, despite all of the reasons he should not.
If she cared for him half as much as he loved her... If she wanted to marry him, Eli would find a way to do so and keep her safe. Perhaps he could even find a way to continue his research. If she loved him—
“Elijah...” She sighed and rolled off of him.
“I don’t want your farm,” he said quickly. “This has nothing to do with your farm.”
She laughed, but her eyes were sad. “It has everything to do with my farm. If I marry you, it’s your farm.”
“I’ll give it back,” he said immediately. “My first act as husband will be to place the farm in your name. I’ll create a legal trust. Then no one can take it from you, no matter what.”
“Or, I can not marry you and my farm will stay mine, with no risk of untrustworthy individuals betraying my trust.” She stacked the picnic supplies back into the basket.
Eli closed his eyes. He deserved that. He was untrustworthy. He’d told the truth about everything... except the one thing that could ruin both their lives: his father.
He sat up. There was one thing he had to know. Even if it was a fantasy.
“If it weren’t for the farm,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “If your father rescinded his threat, and both our fathers gave their blessings, no conditions attached...” He took a deep breath, his heart clattering. “Would you marry me then?”
She met his gaze and answered without hesitation. “No.”
Chapter 10
The Seventh Day
For the first time, New Year’s Day felt... new.
Olive felt new. She had not awoken this morning as the same horsey spinster who hadn’t been kissed since she was fourteen years old.
She had woken a competent, confident, carefree woman who had not only indulged days of scandalous kisses with a devastatingly handsome lifelong rival, but also turned him down straight as you please when he dared to propose marriage.
Her first act was to take Duke for a ride.
According to fairy tales, a girl could only be happy once she’d won the handsome prince.
In Olive’s case, Elijah’s willingness to marry had been a foregone conclusion from the moment he appeared on her doorstep. Marrying was why he was here.
But he hadn’t come to marry her. He would have married a sack of potatoes if it fitted into his and his father’s master plan.
Olive was expected to do the same. Marry a scoundrel of someone else’s choosing simply because a man had told her she ought to.
Saying no had been like... an entire year’s worth of Christmases, all at once.
She’d said no upon sight of him, and then the next day, and the next. She’d even said no whilst lying spread lewdly atop him in the middle of an outdoor pavilion.
Olive raced down the forest path astride Duke, the wind unraveling her hair as a smile took over her face.
She couldn’t believe how strong she was.
All these years, the mere memory of Elijah’s kiss and the subsequent humiliations he had given her had been enough to crumple her into a useless little ball. To the devil with that!