Georgiana stood up like a spring. “Excuse me, gentlemen.”
Josiah saw her as soon as she stood, and his shoulders melted downward, relief writ plain upon his body.
She sailed across the room, dodging guests with ease, and put herself just below the mistletoe instead. She batted her eyelashes at Josiah and met Miss Darlington with a polite smile. “Good afternoon. Are you well today?”
Miss Darlington smiled back. Just as politely. But her gaze flicked for a brief moment to the bundle of leaves and berries above Georgiana’s head. “Perfectly well. Thank you very much, Lady Georgiana. And have you slept off the effects of the negus?”
“I have. Thank you.”
Often, young debutantes cowered a bit when faced with Georgiana. Her title, her money, her relative independence… they made her formidable to girls whose lives depended upon reputation, pedigree, and deep pockets.
This debutante, however, fresh-faced and lively, did not cower an inch.
“Excellent,” Miss Darlington said. “I’d dislike facing an opponent who is not at her best. I do so enjoy a good challenge.”
No question what sort of challenge she meant—capturing Josiah.
“Now,” Miss Darlington said, “you are quite in the way.”
Georgiana stuck her feet to the floor. To move would be to surrender, to abandon Josiah to the enemy. Never. “This is quite the warmest spot in the room, and I feel chill.”
“I suggest you move nearer the fire,” Miss Darlington ground out.
Josiah stepped between them. “I trust Lady Gee knows the best way to keep herself warm.”
Using the nickname—a sure way to tell the chit, without saying much at all, that he and Georgiana shared a closeness.
She could do one better. She looked up at him and raised a brow. “I thank you for your trust. I do have manyexcellentideas about how to keep warm.” Kissing, for instance, provided a wealth of instant heat. Hands, too, lifting hems and lowering bodices, and knees—his—pressing between her legs where she throbbed for release. All excellent sources of heat.
A sort of hiccupping sound escaped from Josiah as red rushed across his cheeks. Imagine. A man like him, blushing. He rolled his shoulders and recovered. “Ah, yes, I too am something of an expert on the subject of staying warm. I guarantee a tangle of mistletoe can heat a body better than a log or lump of coal.”
She almost rolled her eyes and broke into a laugh. Or she would have months ago, but after that kiss their usual banter seemed more potent, more like a prelude to something bigger, something unavoidable.
A snapping sound grabbed their attention. Miss Darlington had pulled a fan from the ether or some hidden pocket, flicked it open, and fluttered it before her, half her face hidden.
“Mr. Evans, perhaps you could demonstrate just how mistletoe works for such a purpose.” More fluttering beneath those blue eyes.
His jaw dropped, and Georgiana tapped his shoulder before he could find his voice and speak the shock written on his face.
“It does seem as if Miss Darlington is in need of an education. What a shame, though. You promised yesterday to take me to the barn to see the cows.” She wouldnotwrinkle her nose.
Miss Darlington did, though, and took a step back. “Cows?”
“Just so,” Josiah said, offering Georgiana his arm. “Let us be off then. Perhaps you’ll get a chance to milk one.”
She took his proffered arm, and they exited the room together.
“Cows, Gee,” he muttered. “I’m taking you to the stable, not the barn. We’ll find horses there, dogs. No cows. We’ve a few tenant farmers in the nearby village with cows and barns. I can take you to milk those if you like.”
“I do not like. And the truth of the matter hardly signifies. Talk of cows worked to free you from Miss Darlington’s sights, didn’t it?”
“That it did.” He squeezed her tighter to his side. “What about puppies? Will meeting a small furry litter make up for the absence of cows?”
“Let’s see, shall we?” She should pull away now they were away from prying eyes, but it felt nice to be tucked in right there, safe and warm. She’d saved him, and she should leave him be until she was next needed, but they must visit the stable now. In case someone watched them.
They jaunted into the gray morning light toward the stable, small weightless snowflakes dusting their shoulders. They’d not taken the time to don coats and pelisses, hats and muffs, and she wrapped her arms around her to hug herself warm as they walked.
The stable loomed, big and dark and deserted. Would he attempt to complete the dare and kiss her?
