A smile tugged at her lips though she tried to stop it. “Untrue.”
“There’s a nook at Greenbriar requiring art of that exact size.” Haven pressed a kiss to her temple, a very tender gesture which spoke of intimacy and affection. The action comforted her as Theo was sure he meant it to.
Her heart stretched in Haven’s direction before she cautiously pulled back. Theo didn’t trust herself. Nor him, when it came down to it.
He held her a long while, but they didn’t speak again, both lost in their own thoughts. After a time, with a chaste kiss to her cheek, Haven slipped away from her, his footsteps sounding on the floor.
Once the door shut, Theo turned to stare at it, unmoving, missing the sense of security she’d found unexpectedly in the circle of his arms. Part of her wished him back, the other half willed him to never return.
Still clasping the brush, she once more stroked her chin with the bristles, her agitation rapidly turning into panic. Theo hadn’t been prepared for this rush of affection in his direction. The ache of her body to be close to his. The circumstances she’d found herself in this morning had shifted dramatically. It had been one thing to contemplate a distant marriage of convenience with Haven, quite another to imagine—well, whatever this was.
12
“May I interrupt?”
Theo looked up from the book in her lap, blinking at a splendid Earl of Blythe dressed in a coat of indigo. His waistcoat, shot through with silver and gold thread, was dazzling, as was the rest of him, so blindingly attractive it hurt to look at him. But the desperate adoration Theo had once held for him failed to rouse itself. No flirtatious, mildly improper comment came to her lips, no hope that he would respond with a laugh. Most importantly, her heart made no leap up inside her chest at the sight of him. She had seen Blythe at Lady Molsin’s, of course, but they hadn’t spoken, not since the night ofTheodosia’s Great Folly.
“My lord, what an unexpected surprise.”
“Hopefully a pleasant one.” The sunlight turned his hair to pure gold.
‘I’ve desired you since you spilled ratafia on me.’
The words growled against her skin as she took in the gentleman before her, repeating so loudly, Theo barely heard Blythe’s charming response. How was she to know, Theo wished to rail at Haven, that all the teasing and innuendo he’d subjected her to at the house party had been meant to gain her attention? Haven had told Theo he didn’t flirt, but hedid, just not the same way a gentleman like Blythe might.
And I missed all of it.
“Of course, my lord.” Theo glanced down at the book in her lap, shut it, and quickly pushed it beneath her skirts. Theo was readingLord Thurston’s Revenge, a novel best suited to twittering girls who wished to be kidnapped by pirates, and she’d no desire to have Blythe think her more of a nitwit than he already must. Besides, the enjoyment of the book had been dampened by the annoyance of an image of Haven invading her thoughts whenever Lord Thurston graced the page.
“I wished to call on you before the wedding. I understand it’s tomorrow.” Blythe nodded at the spot next to her on the bench. “May I sit?”
“Yes, my lord.” Theo scooted over to make room for him. She’d come to the garden to read in peace and to escape Phaedra, who was running about the house with a stick clutched in one hand pretending to sword fight. And to contemplate her future.
She glanced at Blythe from beneath her lashes. A part of her wished she’d brought her spectacles into the garden, but Theo could read quite well without them. What would Blythe think to see Theo with her spectacles?
Haven didn’t seem bothered in the least by them. He’d kissed Theo, possessively cupping her sex as they stood in the studio, all with the hated metal frames fixed firmly on her face. The entire episode, the feel of his fingers searching for her through the material of her skirts, left her unable to think clearly.
She pressed her thighs together. Now was not the time to indulge herself with such thoughts. Not with Blythe looking at her strangely.
“You are well, Lady Theodosia?” There was concern in Blythe’s eyes as he settled himself beside her. He turned his chin to take in the garden before facing her again, the close-cropped waves of his hair buffeting in the breeze.
“Yes, thank you.” Theowaswell. Or as well as she could be as London’s latest scandal, being forced to marry a destitute marquess who had inadvertently ruined her. But aside from her impending marriage, Theo felt more like herself than she had in some time. There was also a huge sense of relief that Blythe had never seen the miniature.
Haven had saved her from that, at least.
“I’ve known Haven for some time, my lady.”
“I’m aware, my lord.”
“Well, then you must know we argue frequently, mostly because I cannot stop poking the bear.” A dazzling smile crossed his features. “Haven is the bear.”
Still not so much as a flicker of Theo’s pulse. And she’d never had the urge to paint Blythe. “I gathered that.”
“May I be blunt?”
“By all means.”
“Haven is very sensitive about his...situation.”
