She barely resisted the urge to fan herself. “Who was the man?”
Liam shifted his body to turn more toward her, and his knee bumped hers. She said a silent prayer that he would not move it, and when he didn’t, she could barely control her smile. A smile tugged at his mouth, as well. “A verra annoying fellow by the name of Lord Hawkins.”
Cecelia gulped.
“Do ye know him?” Liam asked, studying her.
His eyes held a knowing look that made her sure he already knew the answer to that question. “Yes,” she said, not bothering to disguise her disdain. “We were betrothed for a short time, but he broke it off.”
“Ye must tell me some time why he would do such a thing. He’s surely a fool.”
Liam’s words made her heart squeeze.
“He is a fool, indeed,” she managed, and then blurted, “Where have you been?”
“Do ye care?” he asked with quiet intensity.
Her heart thundered almost painfully. Now was the time for a choice as Elizabeth had said: choose the possibility of love, or the possibility of a marriage of comfort. She wanted to grasp at the hope of love, and maybe, just maybe, it would be hers.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I care. Very much.”
He reached out and ran a lone finger up her arm, trailing gooseflesh everywhere he touched. “I thought ye might not, as I heard ye have been riding in the park with the Duke of Blackmore every day.”
“Who told you that?” she asked, surprised that someone would speak of her to Liam at all.
He smiled. “Yer mother. I went to call on ye earlier when I returned to Town—”
“You were away from London?” She gasped. “I thought mayhap— Well, I thought that—”
She simply could not say it.
His hand suddenly came to her cheek, his touch like a hot brand upon her skin. “Ye thought ye had scared me off?”
How was it he could always read her thoughts? She didn’t know, but she adored it.
She nodded.
“I can assure ye, Cecelia, I don’t scare easily.”
His eyes held so much passion and tenderness that she had to curl her toes on a wave of desire and contentment.
“Have ye made a choice, then, between me and Blackmore?” he asked point-blank.
“I didn’t realize I had a choice to make,” she said, trying to make light of the conversation, which was rapidly growing serious.
“Ye know verra well that ye do,” he replied, his tone not amused at all.
She sobered instantly. Fear was making her behave unlike herself, like a scared mouse. She wanted to be a lioness. “I think of him as a friend,” she stated firmly.
“Does he know that?” Liam asked gently.
“Well, I have not come out and bluntly said it, but I have avoided anything that might lead him to think otherwise.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed and took on lethal glint. “Like a kiss?”
“The only kiss I have shared, as of late, has been with you,” she replied, completely breathless. She felt drugged by his closeness. As he leaned toward her, she closed her eyes, wishing with all her heart that he would kiss her once more.
“Here we are!” Elizabeth boomed.
