Page 29 of A Sight to Behold
Unsure suddenly of what to do with her hands—which wanted to reach to touch him—she reached for a wedge of pineapple.
His attentiveness, his gentle touch to adjust the spectacles—each gesture had felt like a warm embrace, wrapping around her heart, yet she couldn’t fathom why he had chosen her out of all the women in London. Was it simply because he saw she needed him and his skills?
Doubt gnawed at the edges of her consciousness, whispering insidious questions that danced like shadows between the foliage. She closed her eyes for comfort for just a second, returning to the familiar world where her other senses were stronger. With one deep inhale of the damp but fragrant air, she allowed some of his scent to make it into her chest, deep down. And when she exhaled, she knew without a doubt that he’d latched on to her heart. And just so, amidst the uncertainty, a tender bud of hope began to unfurl within Pippa’s soul. She used all of her courage to cast him a grateful smile. He’d made her see more clearly but, most of all, he’d made her feel more deeply than anyone ever before.
“Too far? Do you need me to…” He brought his hands back to the sides of the lenses and pushed them up. “Better?”
“No.”You are too far away.Pippa suddenly detested even the air between them.
He frowned. “I cut the lenses myself; they should be just right. And this is as close as they should be to your eyes.” He tilted his head as if trying to look through the lenses from her side.
Now, he was even closer. So very close.
Pippa touched the curved metal that pressed against the area just above her ear, as he gathered her hair to inspect the temple piece. The ribbon holding it in place loosened and she could feel it falling off. Her hair began to spill down her back and around her shoulders.
He seemed unaware of it, and remained focused on the glasses, leaning in and examining them without removing them. Pippa felt his delicious breath on her neck. It made all sorts of feelings and tingles to flow through her body in ways she’d never felt before. Pippa moved and her chin touched his cheek.
He stopped.
Then he stepped back, looking at her like a stunned deer. “Milady…”
Pippa lifted the wedge of pineapple to her mouth. She hadn’t even realized it was still in her fingers. And she didn’t know what else to do in this moment of embarrassment. She’d touched his face with hers.Oh my!
She took another bite of pineapple, and, with the tip of her tongue, licked the precious juice from the rind before she dropped the leftover on the wooden board. Nick’s gaze followed her movement and the moment stretched. She licked the juice from the corner of her mouth, unable to take her eyes off him. But before she could reach for another wedge of pineapple, he laid his hand on hers. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her shoulder with his other hand. She looked down at his hand as itleft her shoulder and then he reached behind her to the back of her head.
When Nick came even closer, her mind raced with questions of what she ought to do because she didn’t want to withdraw. She couldn’t move. Didn’t want to. The closer he was, the more her heart soared.
“Pippa!” Nick whispered with a slight twitch of his brow; his gaze locked with hers. He was begging for permission, but she’d already given in when she licked a droplet of pineapple juice from her lips and focused her gaze on his. And then her breath hitched, as he closed the distance, and his tongue swished gently over her lower lip.
She opened her mouth and gasped, and he pressed his lips onto hers.
A tremor shot through her entire body as he deepened the contact. She melted, her knees unable to support her, and he caught her in his strong arms. She was overwhelmed by the intensity of his touch, the oddly pleasant suction of his mouth, and the fragrant perfection of his scent combined with the precious exotic pineapple aroma that lingered between them. Or was it perhaps just the mingling of their scents in the most amazing of kisses?
Chapter Fifteen
The next day,Nick needed a walk to clear his mind. He’d lost his appetite and didn’t want to take Chromius on the usual walk around Marylebone. Nick didn’t feel as though he deserved even the fox terrier’s affection nor a walk in such a lovely neighborhood.
He’d kissed the daughter of a duke. Nick pinched his eyes shut and stopped walking. His heart dropped to his knees and his feet grew heavy as anchors as he thought of all the ways his transgression could be punished. He was a commoner and had compromised a lady; if anyone of the Ton found out and shared the gossip, the practice would be ruined. Everyone at 87 Harley Street would lose credibility with their patients and business would dwindle while gossip would soar, there was no doubt. And then what would become of Wendy? She’d have no prospects and nobody to look after her besides him. Especially if the word spread that one of the doctors at 87 Harley Street had kissed the daughter of a duke, the Ton would ensure that none of them could ever practice in England again. Felix might return to Vienna and Andre to Florence. For that not to happen, Nick needed a miracle. It would take a flock of cherubs from the Renaissance oil paintings to make Andre forgive Nick for losing control, but Alfie never would. He finally had his apothecary in London and Nick’s actions could be the reason he’d lost it all. Nick swallowed the bile rising to his throat; he’d failed them all. For that, he was ashamed.
And yet, he didn’t regret the kiss itself. It had been a moment of passion and he shouldn’t have let himself steal it from Pippa, but then why did it feel so good? No, “good” wasn’t enough of a description. It had been fantastic. If ever there’d been an earth-shattering kiss,thatwas it. When his lips had touched hers, the earth had split open, the clouds had parted, and the heavens had sent a beam of light to the spot in the orangery. She’d sparkled with her beautiful smile and her eyes had held a glimmer of hope that channeled the light not merely through a lens but straight as a beam to his heart. He’d given her spectacles and a new vision, but she’d given him such a bright smile that the light finally returned to his heart, the kind of light he hadn’t felt since his parents died, Lance lost his vision, and he’d grown entangled in his responsibilities toward Wendy and the others at the practice. And even though he chastised himself in his mind, his heart longed for another kiss from Pippa.
Chromius pulled at the lead, and Nick resumed a slow walk, absentmindedly following his furry friend, his head hung low.
They walked and walked, until Nick glimpsed the park surrounding the orangery where his fate had been sealed less than a day ago. Or rather, he thought it might be sealed though he wasn’t sure exactly how it had been sealed, or what his future held now that he’d crossed the unseen but still so evident line between his class and hers Either way, the aristocratic beauty, the one who was completely off limits, lived nearby.
“Let’s go the other way, old boy,” Nick told Chromius, but the dog didn’t listen.
Nick twirled his hand around the lead some more as Chromius pulled. The little terrier had a way to tense his body until he looked like an arrow. He strained and tugged, coughing as his collar tightened around his neck; suddenly, the lead snapped and Chromius darted off.
“Chromius, no!” Nick shouted as he ran after his dog. “Stop!”
Chromius ignored him and continued running, a piece of the lead dragging on the ground behind him. “Chromius!” Nick wrapped what was left of the leather lead around his hand and ran as fast as he could. Along the path and around the corner, past the bushes. “Chromius! Stop!”
The pebbles of the path creaked, and twigs snapped under his feet. Nick continued to run—until he crashed into a paperboy. “Oomph. I beg your pardon—wait—Chromius!”
As if his furry friend had been stung by a wasp, he continued running off in a straight line, barking at something in the distance. Nick ran as fast as he could, one hand on his hat so it wouldn’t blow away in the wind. He didn’t mind running, he quite liked it, except not in his wool coat and not while calling after his dog in the park near Pippa’s estate where he’d rather remain away, if not that, then at least, unnoticed. But what did they always say? Nick always remembered his Latin from university, not that it would serve for the trouble he’d gotten himself into. “Recidivus ad locum sceleris,” he mumbled to himself.Criminals always return to the scene of their wrongdoing.
In the eyes of the Ton, Nick wouldn’t be more than a petty criminal, transgressing to steal a kiss from a lady of their ranks, and if Chromium didn’t stop now, Nick would be caught and tried—or at least judged by everyone in the Ton—for his crime of compromising a duke’s daughter.Oh Pippa, what have you done to me?
