Page 82 of An Affair with a Notorious Heiress
“Well enough is not necessarily good enough.”
Just as she reached to open the door, he said, “Gina, I was hoping to take your sister on an outing on the morrow but she has declined my invitation. I’m hoping you might convince her otherwise.”
Gina’s eyes were wide and glowing with pleasure. “You mean just the two of you?”
“Precisely.”
“Which is the reason I declined,” Tillie said sharply. “We need to spend our time ensuring you are out and about and seen.”
“One day wouldn’t hurt,” Gina said. Reaching out, she touched his arm. “Never you fear, my lord. I shall ensure she is ready and enthusiastic when you arrive for her tomorrow.”
Taking her hand, holding her gaze, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I was rather certain I could count on you. I shall be here at dawn.”
“Dawn?” Tillie echoed.
“It is to be a full day, Countess.”
“It shall be a day you spend alone.” She retreated into the house.
Gnawing on her lower lip, Gina said, “You like her, don’t you?”
“Very much so,” he admitted, not only to her but to himself.
“She may be a bit grumpy to start, but she will go with you. I promise.”
With a wink, he leaned in. “See that she wears something simple, with few petticoats, as we’ll be doing a bit of traveling.”
As he headed back to his carriage, he was rather certain Tillie would see his enlisting her sister’s assistance as cheating. But where she was concerned, he was willing to do whatever necessary to spend as much time with her as possible.
It was too early for whisky, yet Tillie stood at the window, full glass in hand, watching as Rexton and Gina—her traitorous sister—talked. She was rather certain if she spent too much time alone with him that she would be setting herself up for heartache. She liked him far more than she should, more than was wise when she realized her heart might be on the mend. That made it so much more vulnerable.
When she saw Rexton walking away and Gina heading for the door, Tillie moved away from the window and settled into a chair, striving to appear calm when she was anything but.
“Why won’t you spend the day with him?” Gina asked without preamble as she marched into the parlor.
Tillie took a slow sip of her whisky before saying, “It serves neither of us any good.”
Gina dropped into the chair opposite her. “He wants to court you, Tillie.”
Tillie’s heart somersaulted to the floor. “Did he tell you that? Did he use those exact words?”
Shifting in her chair, Gina averted her gaze. “No, but why else would he want time alone with you?”
For another frolic between the sheets. She wouldn’t have minded, but her fear was that he did want something more, something that could never reach fruition. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
Gina brought her gaze back to Tillie. “Aren’t you curious?”
What if it was something like the carousel, something designed to touch her heart? She was going to leave England when Gina was situated, and she had no desire to leave her heart behind. She feared with Rexton, she was very much in danger of doing that.
Her face earnest, Gina scooted to the edge of the chair. “I think you should do it, Tillie, if for no other reason than simply to find out what he’s about.”
She was afraid. She’d been swept off her feet before, and she’d landed hard on her backside. It would be so much worse with Rexton. So much worse.
On the other hand, he’d already given her so many warm memories that had begun to shove aside the horrid ones of her past.
“If you’re not curious,” Gina said, “I am. I will die if you don’t go with him and report back to me what sort of outing he planned that begins at such an ungodly hour. If you don’t go, I’m going—simply because I must know what sort of deviousness he arranged.”
“I doubt it’s devious.”
