Page 66 of Pride: The Rogue
He slanted a heated, narrow-eyed stare upon her mouth.
Her breath contracted.
He’s going to kiss me…
Melting inside, Livian’s legs went weak under her.
“I wanted to thank you, sweetheart,” he murmured.
Confronted with not the passionate embrace she craved, but polite, impersonal appreciation stole the last of the welcoming warmth within her.
With her head clouded, she could only just look at him.
“For the meal.” He held a large hunk of partially eaten bread aloft. “For the fresh wat—”
“There’s no need to thank me,” she interrupted, hurting inside. “I was happy to do so.”
To hide the husk of emotion that left her mouth dry, Livian cleared her throat. “You were kind and gentlemanly.” She paused and made herself give Lachlan a teasing smile. “That was, with the exception of our initial meeting.”
He flashed a sheepish grin. “Not my finest moment.”
A man such as he could never have a bad one.
Livian clamped her lips down hard on the side of her cheek. Stupidly, she’d wanted his kiss. She wanted it still. No, she yearned for far more. She ached for—
What?a mocking voice in her head, taunted.For him to declare his love?
Love?
Reeling, Livian took a quick, frantic step backward.
Concern radiated from within his eyes. “Livian, are you—?”
She panicked under the rest of the question coming.
Fortunately, the high-pitched call of a child saved Livian from having to answer. “Here you are, Mr. Latimer!”
All of Lachlan’s attention went to the young girl, with the reins of his enormous, black stallion in her small but capable fingers. Just six or so inches past four feet, and by Livian’s estimation ten or eleven, the mount dwarfed the child, and yet, she displayed not a fleck of fear.
“Miss Moira,” he welcomed.
Miss Moira? He’d taken the time to learn a small servant’s name.
Livian briefly closed her eyes.
I’m never going to recover from this.In less than a day, she’d met a man who was perfect in all the ways Livian had wanted a sweetheart—or husband—to be.
“He’s a beautiful creature,” Moira praised like a most skilled aficionado of horses. “Well-behaved and clever, just as you said.” She gave the horse an affectionate pat.
“And you’re as skilled as you said you were.”
The girl grew another inch under Latimer’s latest praise. “I’ve learned it all from my da, Mr. Latimer.”
Livian drank in the tender exchange.
Lachlan removed an enormous purse and handed it gently to Moira. “Well, if the time ever comes you’re looking to care for prime horseflesh, you’ll have a place waiting for you at any one of my stables.”
“Gor, sir,” she whispered. “I’d love that, I would.” She paused. “If my da ever doesn’t have a need of me, of course.”
