Page 30 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
“Do not worry. Nora wanted to fetch you back inside, but I told her I would do it, for I am the only one who will not hesitate to drag you back. I might even smack your bottom for leaving so abruptly.”
“I wish she had not invited me tonight,” he admitted, removing her finger and taking hold of her hand. “If I had known I would have to watch six gentlemen flatter and flirt, I would have sent word to you first, and invited you to my townhouse for a much quieter dinner.”
She smiled. “I was about to ask whyyouwere out here, but I believe I have my answer.” Hesitantly, she took a step forward, closing the gap between them. “If it comforts you, I have no desire to meet with any of those gentlemen. Indeed, if you had taken a moment to look at me, you would have seen that I have not taken my eyes off you since we sat down.”
Unable to help himself, he placed his free hand upon the rise of her hip. “That is not why I left the table.”
“It is not?” She seemed surprised, and tried to take a step backward, like she had misjudged the situation. But his hands slipped around her waist, pulling her back toward him. He did not want any distance between them, ever again.
Sighing, he told her what had happened with Kenneth and Liam, and how Kenneth’s pious words had made him feel defensive of her and shameful of himself.
She pressed her palms to his chest, making his heart pound. “Then… do you want us to stop? I would not like the idea of you feeling regret if we were to continue.”
“There is no regret with you,” he replied quickly. “Well, there is, but not in the way you think.”
His nerves bristled and his heart thundered, as he realized what he had said. It had come out of his mouth without him thinking, and now he did not know how he would explain it away if she pressed him. For hedidhave regret when it came to her. One enormous regret.
“What do you mean?” Her warm breath tickled his lips, and it took all the willpower he possessed not to catch her mouth in his and kiss her fiercely to stop her from gaining the answer that danced on the tip of his tongue.
He held her gaze and saw concern in her eyes. In that moment, he knew he had to say what he had not dared before. “I regret… I regret not telling you how I felt, seven years ago, when we stood upon the bridge in the grounds of my manor.” He exhaled sharply. “No, I regret not saying something sooner than that. Perhaps it would have changed matters.”
Her face fell, and she turned her sweet gaze away from him. “No, dearest Mark, I do not think it would.”
“You do not?” He flinched as though he had been struck. Evidently, she knew what he was referring to, so how could it not have changed things between them?
She shook her head sadly. “It is not as simple as you believe. You see, I got myself into a great deal of trouble, and I did not know how to get out of it. But my father—heknew how to get me out of it, and he left me with no choice.” She paused. “He told me that I had to marry your uncle.Hearranged it, and I am fairly sure he would have sent me away, or worse, if I had not complied.”
“You never wanted to marry my uncle?” Mark had hoped that might be the case, but his mother and father had never spoken of it. He had asked, from time to time, and received the same answer: “They grew fond of one another, and now they are wed. What more do you need to know?”
“No,” she replied simply.
Mark held her tighter. “Then it would have changed things. If I had told you of my feelings, back then, perhaps your father would have accepted me in my uncle’s stead.” The hairs on the back of his neck bristled at the thought of his uncle with her. “I would surely have been a better match.”
“My father is a resolute man. Once he has made a promise, he does not break it,” she explained. “It would not have mattered what you said. It would only have made it harder for me, and I assure you, it was not easy to begin with.”
I let my wounded pride get the better of me when I allowed her to walk away, that day… She must have suffered terribly because I did not say what I wanted to.
“What trouble were you in?” He realized he had glossed over that part.
She opened her mouth, as if to spill her secrets, but a different voice spoke in place of hers.
“Johanna? Carlton?” Nora shouted from the top of the garden. “Please say you haven’t killed one another!”
Johanna’s lips curved up in a smile, as she leaned close to his ear. “That will be a story for another day, my dear Mark. They are waiting for us.”
“Let us meet tomorrow night,” he murmured back, licking his lips as he felt the rush of her hot breath against his skin. “If I arrive at eleven o’clock in the evening, will you be able to find an excuse to send your housekeeper away?”
She laughed softly. “And why would I need to do that?”
“Because I would hear every story you wish to tell me.” He patted his breast pocket, and the sound of the folded paper rustled into the quiet night. “And because there are things in this letter that I dearly wish to have you read.”
Her breath hitched. “Tomorrow. Eleven o’clock in the evening. We will not be disturbed, this time. My housekeeper will already have returned to her own home.”
A fresh promise made, Mark reluctantly let go of her waist. Together, and yet walking apart like two people who could not stand one another, they emerged from the shadows of the apple tree and made their way back up the garden.
“He refused to come,” Johanna declared to Nora, shooting him a scowl.
He snorted. “As if I would allow this harpy to tell me what to do. I did not want to sit at that table and watch six fools fawning over her, like they have never seen a woman before.” He met Nora’s worried gaze. “If you wished to find a gentleman to be her lover, you ought to find a fellow who has at leasttoucheda woman before.”
