Page 71 of Duke of Bronze
"AndIam accused of vanity?" he chortled.
Anna gave a delicate shrug. "You do possess an overinflated sense of self-importance, yes. But I do not recall ever calling you a narcissist."
"A strawberry is still a berry, Anna," he countered, his mouth twitching at the corners.
"If you insist," she returned slyly, lifting a brow.
Without another word, he reached for her free hand, his grip warm as he began to lead her away from the market square.
Anna's heart gave the smallest, most foolish leap at the contact, but she tamped it down quickly, forcing curiosity to take precedence over anything else. "Wherearewe going?" she pressed.
Colin merely smiled. "Patience, Anna."
She gave an exaggerated sigh, but allowed herself to be led nonetheless, winding through a narrow, less-traveled path that cut through the outskirts of the village. And then, just as they rounded a bend, the scene unfolded before her.
A sprawling orchard stretched out beyond a quaint little cottage, its boughs laden with fruit in varying hues. Apple trees stood proudly among orange groves, while limes hung in clusters, their bright green skins gleaming beneath the afternoon sun. There was no one in sight, save for the occasional bird flitting between branches.
Anna slowed, her gaze sweeping over the idyllic landscape. "Enchanting indeed," she murmured, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected beauty.
Colin smirked, clearly pleased by her reaction. "You see? I am not entirely without taste."
Her eyes narrowed playfully. "Thatremains to be seen."
He let out a low chuckle as they ventured deeper into the orchard, their footsteps softened by the grass beneath them. But as she took in the serene stillness of the place, a sudden thought struck her.
"Is no one home?" she asked, glancing toward the cottage in the distance. "Are we not trespassing?"
She should have felt a measure of caution, but instead, a thrill of reckless excitement coursed through her veins. This wasnotsomething she was accustomed to—stealing moments away, wandering through a private orchard with a duke who looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Colin dismissed her concerns with an impish chuckle. "Worry not. The owner is an old friend. He would not begrudge me a visit."
She arched a brow. "And yet, I suspect there ismoreto this tale."
He pressed a hand to his chest, feigning affront. "You wound me with your distrust."
"I simply know you too well," she quipped. "Now, confess."
He sighed, as though greatly put upon, but the twinkle in his eye gave him away. "Very well. If youmustknow, I may have… borrowed fruit from this very orchard once or twice in my youth."
Anna gasped, clutching her marmalade as though scandalized. "You mean to say that I am in the company of athief?"
Colin chuckled, plucking a ripe apple from a low-hanging branch and offering it to her with an air of mock solemnity. "Or would you prefer an orange, so that you might further your marmalade-making ambitions?"
Anna accepted the apple, her fingers curling around its smooth surface just as the distant creak of a cottage door reached their ears. Footsteps followed.
She and Colin exchanged a wide-eyed glance of alarm.
CHAPTER 28
Without hesitation, Colin took hold of Anna's hand, and in an instant, they were running.
She barely had time to suppress a startled gasp before laughter bubbled in her chest, the reckless thrill of the moment overtaking her. They darted through the orchard, their mirth barely contained, like the very children she had seen playing by the market stalls earlier.
By the time they stopped, breathless and flushed, Anna felt a lightness she had not known all day. The weight of her earlier mood had lifted, scattered like the leaves they had disturbed in their mad dash away from the cottage.
They collected themselves, smoothing their attire and composing their expressions before stepping back into the lively bustle of the market to rejoin the others.
"Oh, there you are, Anna," Hester exclaimed upon sighting her. "I was just telling Nancy and Fiona about the most magnificent porcelain doll collection I saw at the ceramics stall. Shall we go and see it?"
