Page 30 of A Perfect Engagement
“How do you always manage to be at ease?” she asked. “Even now, sitting among lace and frills, you appear as comfortable as if you were in your own study.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “No use being uptight. I’m here. I might as well enjoy myself.”
“Is that how you feel about this week? You are stuck until your brother arrives, might as well enjoy yourself?”
“No. I have genuinely enjoyed our time together.” He lowered his voice. “I’m quite jealous of Miles, in fact. Tis a shame I didn’t meet you first.”
Charlotte assumed he was teasing, but the intensity of his gaze belied his easy banter. What if he had been the brother to save her from the rearing horse? Those identical brown eyes would have gazed down at her in concern. But would he have pursued her as Miles had? Or would he have simply bid her good day? She had never gotten along so easily with anyone the way she did with Daniel. She could not deny the chemistry between them was palpable.Stop it.It didn’t matter what affinity she felt. She was engaged to his brother—time to steer the conversation to safer waters.
“I’ve wanted to ask you what it is like being an identical twin? My brother Lucius and I are what Mrs. Brewster calls Irish twins. We are only thirteen months between us. But being of different sexes, it’s hardly the same thing as you and your brother.”
“I suppose it’s like having your best friend with you all the time. We don’t have any other siblings, so we were always together. We always got along—except when we didn’t.”
“I know what you mean. It’s the same with Lucius and me. Except ever since he gained his majority he is never home anymore. He has left me to fend for myself.” Charlotte frowned at her admission. Her resentment surprised her. “I suppose it’s his right to grow up and have his own life, but as a woman, I’m not afforded the same freedom. I must marry in order to leave. There is no other respectable way.”
“Is that what you are doing, escaping?”
Charlotte winced. Was she using Hawksridge as a means of escape? Yes. But it wasn’t so wrong. He asked, and she said yes. It hardly mattered what the reason was behind her consent.
“What if it is the reason I said yes? I’m twenty-threeyears old, and it is high time I married and had a household of my own.”
“That’s just what he said,” Daniel muttered. His frown deepened.
Not everyone can afford to slide through life with naught but a silver tongue and moldy old estate to their name. She would not let Daniel ruin how she felt about her very sensible decision. She crossed her arms across her chest.
“It is a good offer. Can you give me any reason I shouldn’t marry your brother?”
His gaze locked on her for a long moment. Then he shook his head. “No, I cannot.”
Mrs. Buxley arrived with the pot of hot tea and two cups. She set them out carefully. A young girl who served in the shop stood behind her with two plates of cake.
“Today’s cake is lemon lavender. I hope you enjoy it.” With a brief curtsy, she and the server left them to their tea.
Charlotte bent over the cake and inhaled the delicious aroma. “Hmmm, the cake here is divine.” Picking up her fork, she took a bite. The bold lemon flavor mingled perfectly with the more subtle lavender flavor in the creamy center. Honey had been drizzled across the top of the small round cake, and it dripped from the tines of her fork. She glanced up. Instead of eating, Daniel sat watching her eat, his eyes trained on her lips.
“You’re not going to have some?” she asked.
“I will. I’m just taking pleasure in your enjoyment. I’ve never seen someone appreciate food the way you do,” he replied.
Charlotte set down her fork. Was he making fun of her? Her mother always said men didn’t want to see a lady shovel food into her mouth. As though he could read her thoughts, Daniel leaned forward, setting his forearms on the table.
“Miss Grisham, that wasn’t a barb. I love that you let your enjoyment show. There is nothing worse than sitting across from a lady who only picks at her food. It makes me feel like a hulking brute for cleaning my plate.”
Charlotte studied his face. Open and sincere, his expression held not a trace of mockery. She relaxed and took another bite. “Mrs. Buxley creates a different cake each day. She says it is easier for her to make two dozen of the same cake than to offer several different selections each day. I find her to be so creative.”
Daniel took his first bite, and after a brief pause, he finished off the cake in two more large mouthfuls. “Delicious,” he pronounced. He waved at Mrs. Buxley, who stood across the room, behind the counter. “We’ll have two more,” he called out.
They left the tea shop in good spirits. Mrs. Buxley’s honeyed confections had melted away the strange tension from earlier. Clouds still covered the sky in a gray blanket, and a slight breeze kicked up, scattering tiny flower petals down the walkway.
Daniel groaned and put a hand flat against his stomach. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have had the third one.”
She laughed. “I don’t know how you managed it. Shall we walk around a bit to work it off?”
Daniel winged out an elbow, and she wound her hand through, laying it lightly on his forearm. He smelled like a mix of rosemary soap and perhaps balsam. The pleasant scent reminding her of the garden in summer. As they walked back toward the square, they passed the row of tidy brick buildings lining Colton Street. As they approached the haberdashery, Daniel stopped to peer at the window display. The two long shelves held a strange mix of items, ranging from a shiny pistol with a mother-of-pearl handle to a beautiful waterfall of ribbons, several small sacks of tea, and an arrangement of children’s toys.
“I used to have one of those as a child.” He pointed to an ivory bandalore with a tiny elephant carved on its face. “I think I’ll buy it.” He held the door to the store open.
“You want to buy a children’s toy? What will you do with it?”
