Page 23 of Second Chance Prince
“Perhaps we don’t need to practice after all,” she said with a laugh, but she sounded rattled.
His dark eyes delved into hers. “They say that practice makes perfect. We shouldn’t stop at one.” Then, a dark flush coloring his cheeks, “But it is entirely up to you, of course.”
“Shouldn’t we?” She hesitated, her desire fighting against common sense, but as a horse rider Roberta had never backed away from a fence, and she wasn’t about to back away now. She took a breath, her gaze examining his lean and handsome face as if she had never seen him before. As if she might be burned if she looked too long.
“One more then,” she said in a rush and, throwing caution to the wind, leaned in.
Niki didn’t seem to have any doubts. This time, their kiss was deeper and lasted longer.How much practice has he had?she wondered, feverishly responding. He seemed competent, more so than she, but she discovered it was easy enough once one got the hang of it. Teasing lips and probing tongue while trying not to pass out from lack of oxygen.
If he had kissed her like this three years ago, when her girlish infatuation was at its height, she might have swooned away completely.Just as well he hadn’t then, she told herself firmly, as he tilted her chin with a warm hand so that he had better access to her mouth. And oh, she never wanted it to stop.
Perhaps they wouldn’t have stopped, but the sound of laughter coming from nearby, hastily muffled, finally broke the spell.
Niki stumbled back, less like his usual graceful self, and stood in front of her as if he was shielding her with his body. It seemed ridiculously chivalrous and yet affecting at the same time. She peeped around his shoulder, not knowing what to expect, and saw that Antonia and Ernest had found them.
“Sorry,” Antonia murmured, her face fiery, her eyes wide.
“We wondered where you had gone,” Ernest said at the same time. He was grinning from ear to ear. “We won’t tell anyone. Promise, Niki.”
He sounded as if he meant it. Roberta was surprised when Niki said, “I will hold you to that, brat,” in the sort of indulgent voice she had never heard from him before. “This was a private moment between Lady Roberta and me. No gossiping.”
Ernest laughed again, and off he went. Antonia trailed after him, turning once to raise her eyebrows at her sister in a way that seemed to ask a great many questions, and then she too was gone. Once again, they were alone with the topiary bird.
Niki shot her an anxious look. “My brother is a mischief-maker. His promise means little. Don’t be surprised if he has shared the secret with every single person by the time we get back.”
Roberta put his mind at ease. “I suppose it will serve to convince the doubters, and isn’t that what we want?”
“Yes, it is what we want.” He tried not to sound upset at the reminder of their ruse when all he wanted was to keep kissing her. A ridiculous reaction, but he couldn’t seem to help it.
He offered his elbow, and Roberta slipped her arm throughhis. They began to walk back toward the pond.
Roberta caught a glimpse of one of Freddie’s men, pretending to watch some birds flitting about the treetops, and she was reminded of why they were together. “Whoever is trying to harm you…I hope this works and they are captured soon.” Her words trailed off, and she shivered in the warm air.
Niki patted her hand as if it was her life in danger and not his. “I have high hopes that your government will catch this person before they can strike again. Your Mr. Hart seems more than capable.”
Roberta hoped so too. She launched into the story of Gabriel and Charles and Freddie, and their life at St. Ninian’s orphanage. Niki listened, and she felt him relax. While it wasn’t completely impossible to ignore the danger that surrounded him, at least she could do her best to give him some respite from it.
Matilda tried not to smile when Freddie explained what his man had seen and reported back to him. “I know,” she said. “Ernest has already told me.” She tapped his arm with her fan. “It is a good thing, is it not? For Niki to marry a girl he loves and desires? So many marriages are cold, unemotional affairs. I would not want that for him, or for anyone.”
Freddie gave her a curious look, his eyes bright beneath his auburn lashes. “And yet that is the way our world works, isn’t it? You were fortunate, my lady.”
“Please. Call me Matilda,” she said with a smile. “And yes, I was fortunate. Baron Brooks and I had many happy years together.”
Freddie’s smile was quizzical. “But you are still young. You donot need to wallow in widowhood, do you?”
Matilda gave a giggle, and then another. “What a picture you paint, Mr. Hart. No, I do not intend to wallow at all. I think”—and she looked at him sideways—“I think I will take a lover.”
He gave a crack of laughter.
“You think me bold?” she said, eyes sparkling. “It is the thing to do, is it not? My children will soon be grown, and I will be alone.”
Freddie was looking at her, and there was an audacity in his expression and a curve to his lips that had her heart beating a little faster than she was used to. She felt warm in places that had not been warm for a while.
He leaned closer. “I think that is a very good idea, Matilda,” he said.
It was morning two days later when her best friend Estelle Longhurst called upon her. Immediately, Roberta could tell that Estelle was eager for a gossip session, and she wanted to heareverything.
The truth wasn’t possible, she was constrained by circumstances, but she could share the kiss. As they sat together, heads close, Estelle demanded more and more detail. Her eyes were wide with excitement and perhaps a little envy.
