“How kind of you,” Rowan scoffed, and Alice looked up to him, smiling.
“He can be a bit much,” Alice admitted sheepishly, making his friends laugh. Rowan rolled his eyes, but she saw the smile he attempted to hide. “It was a truly unforgettable evening, Your Graces. Thank you for inviting me.”
“You are more than welcome in the future,” Xander said, looking at Rowan, who looked out the window behind him, toward the carriages.
“It looks like our carriages have arrived. Miss Snow, are you ready?”
Rowan offered her his arm, which she took, and they said their last goodbyes before he led her out to the familiar black and gold carriage, just as spectacular as when she first laid eyes on it.
“Were you not just the perfect guest, Miss Snow?” Rowan smiled teasingly as they walked out together, Grace trailing behind, looking just as tired as the rest of the bunch.
She and the staff must have had a similarly festive night of drinking and partying. It made Alice happy to see her maid and friend be able to enjoy herself at the events she went to.
“One of us had to be on their best behavior.” She laughed.
“That was not you, Miss Snow. I remember quite fondly,” he whispered, sending a chill across her skin. He was undoubtedly relishing her shocked silence as he helped her and Grace into the carriage.
Alice looked him up and down as he spoke to the driver about something, taking in his features. His sharp jaw as he spoke clenched ever so slightly, and he ran his fingers through his dark, disheveled hair as he nodded at whatever the man was telling him.
I was right, his hair is tousled in the morning.
He walked back over to the open window of the carriage, giving the ladies his award-winning smile. “The coach is all ready for your departure. I wish safe travels for you two.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Alice responded, suddenly caught in a staring contest with his deep, gray eyes.
“It was an unforgettable night,” he replied, finally breaking the intense silence that had taken over.
He tilted his chin and smiled as if he knew the punchline to some joke she did not understand, before finally backing away from the window, watching them ride off into the woods toward her home.
I sincerely hope that he remembers less of last night than I do because, from the little I can recall, the heat of passion is beyond embarrassing in the sober light of day.
ChapterFourteen
“How does that feel?” Rowan’s voice mumbled in her ear.
She simply moaned in response, too overwhelmed with her senses to properly communicate.
He chuckled quietly against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.
Alice was shaken out of her thoughts by Grace shaking her knee lightly. “Miss, are you all right? We have arrived back at the estate. You seemed quite distracted.”
“Oh, yes. I am fine. I am simply exhausted.” Alice smiled.
It was not a lie. She felt her eyes stinging from lack of sleep the night before, and her head pounded from the alcohol. The real problem was forcing her brain to not keep going back to the blurred memories of the evening she shared with Rowan. It was becoming a serious distraction.
“I will have my mother whip you up a remedy once we get inside.” Grace chuckled, stepping out slowly when they stopped in front of the estate.
They thanked the driver as he rode off, making their way inside. Alice was running upstairs to change and bathe when her brother caught her at the top of the stairs, a cup of tea in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.
So, he can do things on his own. That is reassuring.
“You look as if you have been ravaged by a pack of wolves.” He gave her a disapproving once over, furrowing his brow. “Where on Earth have you been all night?”
“I was invited to a dinner event,” she said quietly. “Did the Duke not send word?”
“The footman arrived here with a letter from the Duke. It doesn’t excuse you from twelve missing hours, Sister.”
“We had not kept up with the time, and it would have been a dangerous ride home, so we all stayed there for the night.”
