Both horses shifted restlessly.
“It’s probably just a mouse,” Lady Leonora murmured.
A mouse? His back stiffened. He’d prefer anything else over mice. “Then we should leave before the mouse makes its appearance.”
“I don’t think mice do that. They just scurry about.” Her eyes widened. “Why? Are you afraid of mice?”
“Let’s just say they are not my favorite creatures in the world.”
“But they are just little mice, and you are a big, scary, intimidating man,” she teased.
“Scary? Intimidating?”
“For the mouse.”
He gave her a flat look. He should have told her he was concerned about their horses. “Did you know you have a talent for speaking nonsense?”
“Oh, I’m very well aware. Heart never misses an opportunity to inform me of my nonsense. Shall we go?”
Dare nodded and mounted his horse alongside her. Fortunately, they hadn’t been caught by the duchess and Leonora’s mother. Just the thought brought a slight shiver uphis spine. They waited a few more moments, listening carefully to the silence, before she smiled at him and gave a nod.
“I’ll be off then.”
Just like that? Why did it feel so abrupt? As though they’d shared a monumental moment, and now they parted ways? “I’ll escort you home,” he said before he could think better of it. Had he forgotten they could not be seen together? He must have lost his damn head.
She laughed. “Accompany me? Why not race me?” More nonsense. “Or are you going to tell me women shouldn’t race?” she asked before he could answer.
“I’m not the sort of man to tell a woman what she should or should not do.”
Her laugh turned merry. “No words of wisdom for me?”
“Wisdom? No.” Just look at him.
“Then race it is! The first one to clear the woods wins.” She spurred her horse into a run.
“Prepare to lose,” Dare called out after her, urging his own thoroughbred, Flash, into a run after her.
Utter madness.
He loved it.
He would be skinned by her brother if they were caught, but so be it. He’d chase her light like a determined shadow. And while he didn’t rightly know what possessed him to race against her, he did know he might never get the chance to do so again. And when it came to this woman and all her brilliancy, he wanted to grasp every chance before the inevitable conclusion of their acquaintanceship came about.
For it was just a matter of time.
Chapter Four
Leonora was ambushedthe moment she stepped into the house. She couldn’t say she was surprised. Thir race hadn’t ended when they’d cleared the park—they had raced all the way to her house, caught up in the thrill. But the man had fulfilled his wish and escorted her home. Her only regret was that her morning rides were now exposed to Heart. A botheration.
“Didn’t I tell you to say away from that man?” her brother demanded, following on her heel into the dining room.
“You speak as though Dare is this monster that might suck out my soul.”
“He is a rake, Leonora. Do you not understand what that means?”
“It means he loves women.”
“So you are aware, yet you continue to consort with him.”
