Page 36 of Second Chance Prince
Roberta blinked, her blue eyes on him. “I shouldn’t have done that,” she said. Then she bit her lip and glanced at him from beneath her sooty lashes.
Niki squeezed his hands into fists to stop himself reaching for her. “Tell me what you are thinking,” he said, “whatever it is. We agreed, did we not?”
She glanced at him again, and then lifted a hand to her lips. He could see it was trembling, and once again he wanted to reach for her, but once again he stopped himself.
“I was going to say that I find kissing you rather nice,” she said, and lifted her chin as if to dare him to call her improper. “But I understand why we needed to stop. I did not realize when I suggested we start kissing that we might have trouble being able tostopkissing.”
He chuckled wryly. “Neither did I, although I should have.” He met her gaze directly because he wanted to see how she reacted to what he was about to say. “I have wanted to kiss you since the night you spoke to me at the ball, the night I was shot at. Maybe even before that.”
Her eyes widened, and then she began to laugh. She laughed so long he grew concerned he had said something stupid and that she was laughing athim. But at the same time, he was certain she would not do anything so cruel.
“Niki,” she said at last, her voice husky from laughter. “When we met, I was near enough to seventeen and certainly no child.” Then, her eyes clear and questioning, “Did you not realize how infatuated I was with you? I desperately wanted you to kiss me. I blurted out the stupidest things because whenever I was with you, I lost what wits I had. And then I turned a cartwheel in front of you, and you went as red as a beet.”
He tried to digest her words. She hadwantedhim to kiss her? “I have never forgotten your cartwheel,” he admitted. “I hadnever known a young lady to do that before.”
She smiled kindly. “I think you have led a very sheltered life.”
He choked on laughter but refused to let it free. “And when you stole my horse? Was that because you wanted my attention?” He said it lightly, because she had given him so much to think about, only now wasn’t the time.
“Hmm.” She gave him a sparkling look. “I think that was because I wanted to ride Leopold.”
He laughed with delight. Everything about her delighted him.
Roberta’s gaze moved past him, and she stood up abruptly. Niki followed her gaze and saw one of his bodyguards riding past. Had he seen their intimate moment, and did Niki care? There were already whispers about their stolen kisses. They had been meant to convince the doubters to their fake engagement, but somehow, they had become more than that.
Whatever was between them was no longer fake, at least on Niki’s part.
That night, supper was a smaller meal but just as informal. The children were cross and tired, and their mothers and fathers had decided so were they. Justina and Charles had returned to London and Cadieux’s, but there was a new visitor to Grantham. Sir Will Tremeer, the brother of Vivienne, the Duchess of Grantham. He was a bright young man who seemed to get on with everyone, although Niki did not remember him from his visit three years ago.
Willrememberedhim. Niki could tell from the suspicious gleam in his gray eyes, so like his sister’s, and his rather curtresponses to Niki’s questions, that he did not think much of him. It was a little painful to realize how bad an impression he had made on some of Roberta’s family.
He rather thought Antonia was particularly fond of Will. The way she gravitated toward him, and the blush on her cheeks. Will was harder to read; he seemed to be friendly with everyone and did not choose anyone in particular to lavish attention on. Was Antonia infatuated with Tremeer?
That reminded him of what Roberta had said earlier. He had thought about it a great deal. Her infatuation with him, her longing for him to kiss her, her desperate need for attention when she was in his sphere. There had been an attraction between them even then. Just a bud, but it had been there.
Now that attraction had blossomed, and he didn’t want to be away from her. Of course he couldn’t stand about like an oaf, staring at her, but even when they were apart, he was aware of his need to find her again. For someone who was always in complete control of his feelings, Niki was beginning to lose his grip. It worried him, and yet he could not seem to help the gradual easing of that iron hold he had always relied on.
He tried to concentrate on the company around him. He wanted to change Will Tremeer’s mind so he would not think him even more rude and arrogant than he already did. It mattered to Niki because this was Roberta’s family, and he would like her to see he was trying hard to change their opinion of him.
Families were complicated, and not just his own.
“What is it, Lily?”
Roberta’s question interrupted his thoughts, and he noticed the small girl standing in the doorway, thumb in her mouth. Theegg artist. When she blinked at him with her sleepy blue eyes, he found himself charmed.
“She wants my dolls,” Edwina said, giving the girl a frowning look. “She’s always trying to take them away from me.”
Roberta looked nonplussed. “She’s only a baby, Edwina. You were like that once. You should share with her.”
“Why?” Edwina demanded.
A voice sounded from the passage behind the child. “Because it is the kind thing to do!” Olivia appeared, looking slightly unkempt but still as beautiful as he remembered. “Lily thinks you are wonderful. She looks forward to seeing you whenever we are here.”
Niki wasn’t sure that was true, but it had the desired effect on Edwina, who looked pleased and ashamed in turn. “All right then,” she sighed. “Come on, Lily, let’s find the dolls.”
The child put her hand willingly into her aunt’s and toddled off.
Olivia looked after them with a fond smile before turning back to the room. Her gaze focused on Niki, and something about it made him uncomfortable.
