Page 79 of My Kind of Scoundel
Were their thoughts aligned? she wondered. Was he imagining how impossible life would be if they did not spend every hour together?
“That’s the most scandalous thing I have ever done,” she said, tying the ribbons on her bonnet. “You’re a bad influence, Mr Chance.”
“You asked for a kiss.” Eyes a soft, sated blue lingered on her mouth. “I never do anything in half measures, Eleanor. You know that.”
No, he’d exceeded all expectations when tidying her shop. He had more than fulfilled his vow to put things right.
“Does this intense euphoria ever fade?” she asked. When would lust’s flames stop burning so brightly? Would the inner agony dull over time?
Theo shrugged. “What exists between us is unlike anything I have experienced before. Our relationship is unique.”
“Oh.” What did that mean? She was too afraid to ask.
When you secretly loved someone, there was still hope.
The pain of shattered dreams was hard to bear.
Seeking a distraction from her wayward thoughts, she glanced at the pretty reticules in the shop window and nearly fell off the leather seat.
She pointed at the sign. “Tell me my eyes deceive me.”
He read the name painted in red script on the pale blue background. “Franklin’s Emporium? Franklin? Any relation to the silversmith?”
“I don’t know. Might it be a coincidence?”
“There’s only one way to know for sure.”
They alighted. With Finch Lane being a five-minute walk from Fortune’s Den, Theo instructed Godby to return home.
“I thought you might appreciate the exercise,” he said to her, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Perhaps we might dine with Aaron tonight. He will be glad of the company. You can wait in my room while I assist him at the club.”
The thought of dining with Aaron filled her with dread. He didn’t want her there, but Theo loved his brother, and so she would smile and be polite.
“While I wait, might I sleep in your comfortable bed?”
His smile turned sinful. “Sleep while you can. When I return, I doubt we’ll keep our hands off each other.”
A vivid scene entered her mind. Them kissing until breathless.
I’m so in love with you, she wanted to say.
“You know how to appeal to a woman’s fantasies.”
“I know how to appeal to yours. I don’t care about anyone else.”
They locked gazes for a heartbeat.
No words were needed.
Upon entering the emporium, they were greeted by the tinkling of a tiny bell and an enticing display of costume jewellery filling the glass cases.
A woman of thirty approached them, her dark hair fixed in an elegant coiffure, a pretty lace choker fastened around her neck. “Good afternoon.”
Eleanor stepped forward. “Good afternoon. Might I look at the emerald-green reticule in the window? The one with the gold embroidery?”
“Of course.” The assistant removed it from the window and placed it on the velvet pad on the counter. “The colour matches your eyes perfectly.”
Eleanor could sew something similar in an hour, but she studied the stitches and the tiny glass beads. The design reminded her of something she had made to complement Lady Beckett’s new carriage dress.
