Page 26 of The Lord Next Door I Wished For
A moment of silence passed, and then Jane glanced up at him, her expression difficult to make out. “We don’t have to talk about it, do we? The engagement party and the wedding…” She blew out a long breath that lifted a lock of auburn hair off her temple. “All of it.”
“Definitely not,” he said. “I’d rather talk of anything else.”
He was rewarded with a small smile. “Like what? The weather?”
“Gads, no. Our mothers cover that topic well enough for both of us, don’t they?”
She laughed, the sound airy and light. It lifted a weight from his shoulders that he’d thought was there permanently in the wake of his father’s passing.
“All I ask is that you don’t ask my opinion on linen patterns, or fabric swatches, or—”
“Done,” he said. “Just so long as you don’t bore me to tears with talk of contracts, and inheritance laws, and—”
“Done,” she interjected just as he had.
They kept at it for a while, making each other laugh as they poked fun at their families and how they were driving them both mad.
“Is that why you snuck out your window?” he asked when they reached the stable. “Were you being driven to distraction by the wedding plans?”
“Partly that,” she said as they entered the blissfully cool shade of the stables and were surrounded at once by the familiar scent of the place. She headed straight to a black stallion and stroked his nose. “Partly because I wanted to see this fella.”
“Should I be jealous of a horse?” he asked dryly.
She laughed. “Possibly. And—” She hesitated, as though she’d started to say something and changed her mind.
“What is it?” he asked.
She shook her head and smiled at him, but the smile held a tinge of sadness. “I suppose I just needed to escape, that’s all.”
A silence stretched, before he finally managed, “I hope you’ll never feel that way after we marry.”
She glanced over in surprise, no doubt at the gruffness of his voice. But it was true. When she didn’t speak for too long, he tried to lighten the mood again.
“By the way, is slipping out of windows a common occurrence for you?” he teased. “Shall I ensure there’s a padded landing below the windows of our homes?”
She ducked her head, and then she started to laugh in earnest, clapping a hand over her mouth as he drew closer.
“What is it?”
“Nothing it’s just…” She cleared her throat. “That night…the night of the masquerade?”
As if he could forget that night.
“That’s how I left the finishing school.”
His jaw dropped. “You…you snuck out?”
She clamped her mouth shut, but she looked so adorably impish, he couldn’t help but laugh as he wagged a finger teasingly. “I knew you were up to no good that night.”
“I wasn’t though,” she insisted. “I was just…”
She stopped quickly, but the color flooding her cheeks piqued his curiosity. “You were what, Jane?”
She turned her gaze to look at the stallion and spoke to the horse instead of him. “I was lonely, that’s all.”
His heart faltered, and then his chest tightened so quickly it stole his breath. His Jane had been lonely.
The thought was unbearable, and he had to clench his fists at his sides to keep from reaching for her.
