Page 9 of An Icy Christmas Engagement
When she’d returned to London after Harold’s death, it was in the midst of the London Season. Every ambitious mother and their unmarried daughters were talking about snagging the handsome and wealthy Earl of Colenhurst. Apparently, he did not frequent many events and had never given any indication that he wished to be married. But that did not stop them from trying. But he was cold and unwelcoming to anyone who dared approach. Caroline could understand why. Just looking at him made her feel a tad apprehensive, as if she should take care never to get on his wrong side.
His thick, dark brows dipped into a frown. “I asked, are you all right?”
Suddenly, she realized what had happened. First she felt shame, the feeling washing over her like warm, tepid water. Then a sharp pain shot through her ankle, bringing a groan to her lips.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he murmured, straightening and releasing her slowly.
Caroline didn’t dare rest her pained ankle on the ground. She looked around, realizing that her portfolio was no longer in her hand.
“Right here,” the Earl of Colenhurst said, lifting it for her to see. It remained unmarred from the snow, which meant he must have caught it the same time he caught her.
A handsome and chivalrous gentleman, she mused. Certainly a prime example of what a male protagonist in a romance novel should be.
Somehow, that scowl of his grew deeper. “Are you so stunned by your slip that you no longer have the ability to speak?”
She frowned. A little crass in his tongue but that was fine. It gave depth to his character to have him a little rough around the edges.
“I can speak quite fine, thank you very much,” she stated primly. “I was only thinking of how best to respond.”
“A ‘I’m quite well, thank you for your kind inquiry,” he grunted.
Perhaps he was a little more than crass. Rude was a bit more like it.
“Your assistance was greatly appreciated,” she told him. “And I thank you for saving my documents.” She held out her hand and was grateful for how easily he returned it to her. “Now, if you will excuse me, I shall be on my way.”
She’d seen enough. She’d committed enough of his ravishing good looks to memory and this incident was already embedded in her mind. Certainly she would have more than enough inspiration to draw from when she sat down to write later.
Caroline stepped into the street, intending to go around him. His arm shot back out with a curse on his breath and he pulled her against his chest.
A carriage flew by, so close to her that the wind it produced nearly whipped her hair out of its hold. She would have been offended by the angry curse the carriage rider shouted at her as it flew by, or perhaps embarrassed that she’d almost gotten herself run over, but she could hardly think at all. Not when the only thing she was capable of focusing on was the fact that she was pressed against this stranger’s hard, broad chest and that her heart seemed to be racing at a hundred miles per hour.
“At this point, I can only assume you are trying to kill yourself,” the earl murmured. They were still close, far too closeconsidering they were out in public. But neither one of them made any attempt to move.
“I would never,” she murmured in return, her voice a breathy whisper. “I have far too much to live for.”
“Then perhaps it would be best if you watched where you were going and kept to the safe side of the street, yes?”
She nodded wordlessly as he released her. There was no arguing with that.
Heat flooded her cheeks. Caroline didn’t bother determining if it was due to her shame or something else.
The Ice Earl took a step back, taking off his top hat to scratch the back of his head. If Caroline didn’t know better, she would think he was feeling a little sheepish. But that wasn’t an emotion her male protagonist was accustomed to feeling, was it? Was that a feeling the Ice Earl was capable of having?
“Perhaps I should walk with you to your destination,” he said. “Just to make sure you get there safely.”
She raised her brows in surprise. “Do you think I'm so clumsy that I cannot manage such a feat myself?”
This time he was the one to raise his brows.
“Never mind,” she said quickly. “I appreciate it, but I do not want to trouble you.”
“It is no trouble at all. I had no destination in particular, you see, so I have nowhere to be.”
That only deepened her surprise. “Truly?”
He tilted his head to the side as he asked, “Is that so hard to believe?”
Caroline took a moment to consider her next words. He was a stranger, after all, and she’d learned at a young age that many people of the ton did not take kindly to her natural candidness. Despite that inclination, she felt tempted to say, “You do not strike me as the type of man to stroll idly about.”
