“You should.” He clasped his fingers with hers. “Are you in the mood for a bit of adventure?”
She grinned at him. “That depends on where we are going. If it’s to a ball with a parrot or a lake with an oversized reptile, I shall pass.”
“How about a boxing match?”
Her eyes widened, and she took an eager step forward. “Let’s go.”
Dare laughed “So enthusiastic.” This was what he had missed the past three days. Missed it so much it had felt as though the sun had set on his daily life.
“I’ve never been to a boxing match before, so who am I to deny myself the opportunity when the moment presents itself?”
Dare nodded. “Then let’s go.”
He didn’t think much as he led Leonora to his carriage and set out to Drake’s fight. She’d whispered a few words to the butler, and they had set off. He hadn’t intended to go but then decided for it. It was the only place he could think of to take her since she never wanted to do things ordinary ladies wanted to do. Perhaps this was what they both required.
The kiss . . .
That had been a mistake.
He’d known it the moment his lips brushed against hers. But Dare wasn’t a gentleman. He could admit he’d made a mistake, but he wouldn’t regret it. Regret held no place in his life. Regret ruined. Regret killed. And he might just die from all the fire such a tiny kiss had provoked, but he wouldn’t regret it.
So long as it didn’t happen again, and again, and again. He should be fine.
“Do you like boxing?” Leonora asked as she settled in the carriage across from him, immediately pulling pins from her hair.
His gaze spun to hers, brows gathering. “What are you doing?”
She looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“With your hair?” She was going to send his thoughts straight back to his trousers.
“Oh, well, I can’t very well look like a lady attending a boxing match, can I?”
“I don’t think it’s something you cannotlook like, Lady Leonora,” Dare said slowly, watching as she removed each pin until all her tendrils of hair cascaded down her shoulders and back.
He adjusted his cravat. Bloody hell.
Dare loved hair.
He loved long hair.
She pointed at his jacket, and he glanced down at the black he wore today, a question quirking his brow.
“Hand me your jacket.”
His head reeled back. “What? You want this?” He tugged on it for good measure.
She wriggled a finger. “Yes. Your jacket. Hand it over.”
Dare sighed, but didn’t argue. He shrugged out of his jacket with a mutter, and it was snatched from his fingers before he could hand it over. “Are you planning to wear it or do something else with it?”
Her answer was to put her arms through the sleeves. “What?” She smiled. “You still have your shirt and waistcoat.”
“Do you believe that will make you look less like a lady? And this is the second jacket of mine in your possession.” Another out-of-character thing for him. He preferred his clothes to be attached to him when he left a woman.
“I believe dressing even the slightest bit down is better than arriving dressed as I was, yes. And I shall be sure to return both jackets.”
He ignored the last. He quite liked the idea of his clothing being in her possession. “Shall you slouch as you walk as well?”
