“Of course,” he tried to say with some dignity. “I’m fine.” He put his palms on the dirt to stand but before he could move, Philomena was on her knees beside him. “Perhaps I’m not all right.” He leaned back to rest his head on the grass. Might as well milk this tenderness for all it was worth.
“Henry, you scared me.”
“I did?”
A gush of air broke from Philomena’s lungs. He hated to see her in any kind of distress. Had always hated to see that. Fortunately, she was not the type to be easily overwhelmed. In this moment, her concern was apparent but it was easy to reassure her.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. I just need a little TLC.”
“What’s TLC?”
“Tender loving care.” He grinned up at her concerned eyes. “I think I just made that up. But I still want it.” The coldness was gone and in its place was the warmest smile. Glowing. Radiating. Just for him.
How many times had they shared a smile? He couldn’t count. But this was so much different than before. Before, they were friends. They talked about everything together, shared secrets, important news, and even trivial matters. No topics were untouchable. Only their bodies. And then that had changed. It seemed like such a natural progression, when he thought about it. He wanted to share everything with her. That’s why she was one of the first people he sought out when he found his most recent coin. Why not want to share his life with her? Why not? With that luminescent smile directed at him, he couldn’t think of a single reason not to. Not even his mother counted as a reason against.
“You’re adorable,” Philomena said sweetly.
“I am? You’ve never called me that before.”
“Well, clearly something has changed between us.”
“I didn’t think you were ready to admit it.”
Her voice was raspy. “I don’t think I can deny it much longer.”
The tone and texture of her voice coated his cock. It began to throb. Remembering what had happened the previous evening, he knew he was in trouble. He wanted her. In the gardens. On the grass. Now.
“No one’s watching us.”
Wide-eyed, she unexpectedly asked, “What do you have in mind?”
Chapter 5
WHAT HENRY HAD IN mind, needless to say, resulted in mussed hair and crumpled portions of fabric. It was not Philomena’s best look, but she was pretty sure the vibrant grin on her face was.
They had spent far too long in a caress that led to straddling, which led to rubbing, and God, his body felt amazing. He was strong and confident. And she could tell he was enamored with her. The dreamy looks he was giving her warmed her entire being. He had been her friend. Now he was something more. But what exactly more, she wasn’t sure. He was enjoying her body, and she was enjoying his. But what of his heart?
She couldn’t help but notice that they hadn’t yet shared a kiss. It was odd. Or was it? Being an innocent, she wasn’t sure if itwasodd. It didn’t really feel odd, since the pleasure and intimacy of everything they were doing was enough to flood hersenses. She wasn’t sure what a kiss, on top of (or underneath) everything else would do. She had never been kissed. How could she know what she was missing?
She was kneeling in the grass at Henry’s side, while he reclined on one elbow, the other hand drawing messy circles on her thigh. She didn’t want to leave. It was all so perfect, but she knew that their time away would soon be noticed.
“I think we should go back before someone sees Paulina sitting all alone on the bench when she’s the one who should have been here with you.”
Henry brushed his fingertips over her cheek. “No one else is supposed to be here with me except you.”
“That’s nice of you to say, Henry.”
“It’s true.” Pushing himself up, he kissed her cheek.
“All the same, we should be going.” The cheek kiss was unraveling her resolve. Not just her resolve to make their way back and put on airs of propriety, but also her resolve to not indulge in unrealistic hopes and dreams of a future with him.
It was alltooperfect. There was no point in tainting perfection with real talk about the future. The future she knew couldn’t exist.
“Let’s go then.” Henry stood and, for the second time in twenty-four hours, he helped her up, squeezed her, and kissed her temple. “Mmm…you feel so good, Mina.”
She swatted at his shoulder. Well, really it was more of a rub. “Come on, Henry.” Secretly she adored his attention but she just couldn’t bring herself to let down her guard.
As they walked beside each other, Henry reached for her hand and she let him. Until they were close to Paulina, and then she pulled away, not meeting his eyes.
