Page 47 of If the Slipper Fits
“Oh, mustn’t forget this.” He stopped and pulled something from his pocket.
Her crumpled bonnet.
He slipped it onto her head, adjusting it with surprisingly gentle fingers. He tied the straps into a bow under her chin, and, to her mind, lingered over the task.
The veneer of anger she’d erected crumbled in an instant.
“Thank you,” she whispered, ridiculously on the brink of tears.Her. She could not recall the last time she’d cried prior to this weekend. When her father had died? Since arriving to this infernal house party, she’d misted up twice, first, with Lady Wentworth, and now with Caden. Hadn’t she learned long ago tears accomplished nothing?
He grunted his reply, and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow to lead her into the parlor.
She tucked her chin, anticipating moving through a mob of people.
Caden paused at the threshold, glancing around the room. Without a word, he heaved a sigh, ushered her past the bulk of the crowd, then stepped in front of her.
He was shielding her from direct view with his body. Even piqued with her, he had her interests in the forefront of his mind. How like him.
A hard lump formed in her throat, and she tried with all her might to swallow it back. No use. Her face contorted. Wonderful. On the rare occasion she did succumb to tears, she resembled nothing so much as a baked apple.
Thanks to Caden, no one saw.
Lady Fenton’s cheerful voice rose above the din. “Ladies and gentleman, your attention, please.” She paused as the room grew quiet. "Our champions,” she announced.
Applause rippled through the room, amplifying Anna’s misery. In a moment she would say goodbye to Caden, in all likelihood for forever. Oh, they may see each other in passing a few more times over the next several days, but, by unspoken agreement, the light-hearted flirtation which had sprung up so naturally between them had vanished.
Anger at her situation, the unfairness of it all, bubbled up inside her ’til she wanted to scream. Despite his sour attitude, despite his evident disappointment in her lovemaking skills, she didn’t want to say goodbye. Not yet.Not again.
She could set things right between them. Offer to tell him her dreaded secret. Allow him to realize on his own how impossible helping her would be.
Who was she kidding? He was Caden,herCaden. He would never admit defeat. She could not live with burying him under the mountain of trouble that followed in her wake.
She had to let him go.
She stared at his square shouldered, broad back through a blurry haze. Finding him after all this time, being held in his arms, being kissed by him, had been like stumbling head first into heaven. In sayinggoodbye, she may as well be cutting out her very heart. But better hers than his.
“You’ve gone quiet on me again.” Hands on hips, he twisted his torso to glance back at her.
She couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. Could barely choke out a reply. “Just wondering where Lady Wentworth got off to.”
“Probably resting in her guest chamber. Best if you run off and join her like the obedient little companion you are.”
A wry huff of laughter squeezed through the stubborn lump in her throat. He’d intended his biting remark to sting. Even so, the heroic vein at his core shone through. He'd spoken in a voice loud enough for her ears only.
She attempted a smile and cursed the stubborn quiver in her chin. With any luck, the bonnet he so detested hid her lapse in control. “Thank you for today.”
He snorted and shifted ‘round to face the other guests, stance wide, arms folded over his chest. “Not quite sure which part of today you enjoyed enough to thank me for. If you reference what I think you do, I can assure you, the pleasure was entirely mine.”
She meant to take offense at his caddish remark. Instead, his last statement lightened the darkness engulfing her heart.The pleasure was entirely mine.
If that were true, why had he gone from hot to cold in the blink of an eye? She must have done something wrong. Abruptly it was all too much.
She turned and bolted for the side door uncaring of who might witness her graceless egress.
***
Caden felt the air of the still room stir at his back. He glanced over his shoulder to find Anna bolting for the small, servant’s door at the rear of the overheated grand parlor. He glowered after her. She hadn’t even bothered with a fare-thee-well.
But then, could he blame her? His attitude had grown increasingly snarky.
