‘Oof,’ he grunted.
‘Oh, I am sorry.’ Without thinking, she reached up to rub it better, as if she were still a governess and he were her charge.
‘It is fine, you do not need to…’
His face was so close, his lips hovering not far from hers. It would be the work of nothing to reach up and press her mouth to his. His gaze dropped to hers and in that moment she knew he wanted it too. Didn’t she deserve it? Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a taste? To know what it was like to be desired, even if it only happened once in her life. His eyes were hooded when they looked into hers and she was sure, sure if she closed the gap between them, he would welcome her touch. She rocked forwardonto the balls of her feet ready to push herself upwards and close the small gap.
A hiss of pain sounded behind her and she jumped backwards, her heart racing from the shock of her actions. From the parting of Edward’s lips she guessed he was just as taken aback.
Glancing over her shoulder, he cleared his throat. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes. I am sorry. I stubbed my toe.’ Kate turned and found Emily leaning down to rub her foot. ‘I am fine. It was silly.’ For some reason, her friend glared up at Freddie, who spread his hands in a placating gesture.
Kate touched her throat. Her pulse was still racing. She had no idea how long she had been staring up at Edward, thinking about kissing him, seconds or hours; time had ceased to mean anything. Imagine if Freddie and Emily had seen how close she had been to following through on her desire, what would they have thought of her? In the moment, she’d been completely oblivious to their presence. Her skin started to burn. Pressing a hand to her cheek, she found it hot to the touch, which only made her warmer still. No one was looking at her and she waved a hand in front of her face, trying to cool herself down.
‘You did very well,’ Emily said, still looking at her foot.
‘I think I have the dance mastered,’ she said, pleased her voice did not betray how flustered she was. She did not mention the mistake that had caused her to fall against Edward. If they had not witnessed it, she did not need to draw attention to it. ‘Would you like to stop today’s lesson since you are injured?’
‘No. It is nothing and we do not have time to waste; the ball is in two days. Let us move on to the quadrille. As the name suggests it is another dance for four couples, but easier, I think, than the last one we did. You need to stand there…’
The rest of the afternoon followed in a whirl of steps. Sometimes Kate was holding Freddie’s hand, sometimes it was Edward’s, but if there had been a connection between them, there was certainly not another one for the rest of the afternoon. When Emily finally announced she was too exhausted to teach Kate the waltz, Edward left the Blue Lounge within minutes, all but running in his haste to get away. Kate thought she heard Emily sighing softly, but when she turned, her friend was rubbing her bruised toes once more.
Chapter Seventeen
Edward tapped out a few notes on the piano, his heart not really in creating music this early in the morning, especially when tiredness weighed him down. He could hear servants in the corridor outside the music room, but they were moving quietly, presumably not to wake the rest of the household who were still abed.
He’d barely slept, had barely eaten or functioned properly since yesterday afternoon.
He’d come close to kissing Kate.
She’d turned her face to his and her mouth had been so close, so unbelievably close, and everything in him had screamed at him to bend his head and press his lips to hers.
He’d forgotten his promises to himself, forgotten she was not for him, forgotten his brother and sister-in-law were in the room with them. All that had mattered was her. If Emily had not made a sound, he would have kissed her, consequences be damned. He was not sure if his sister-in-law had done it on purpose or if it had truly been an accident. Freddie and she had certainly hadsome sort of silent marital conversation during the rest of the dance lesson, their eyes flashing and hands flicking when they thought he wasn’t watching.
It shocked him how quickly his resolve had crumbled. Everything he had promised himself had gone in an instant and he wasn’t sure whether he regretted his loss of control or the fact he and Kate had not been alone.
The door to the music room clicked open softly and he turned, expecting to see a maid.
‘Oh,’ said Kate, stopping on the threshold. ‘I am sorry. I was not expecting to find you here. I will go.’
She was wearing a pale green dress she had not worn before. It was cut to follow the generous lines of her curves. Her hair was loosely up, but he thought she must have done it herself rather than wait for her maid, because strands were already coming undone. When he did not say anything she turned to leave. That would have been for the best, so, of course, he heard himself say, ‘No, please stay.’
She paused in the act of opening the door. ‘I do not want to disturb you.’
‘You are not. I was trying to work on the piece I played for you the other day, but I seem to have lost my way with it.’
She let the door close with her still in the room, stepping towards the piano, a half-smile on her face. ‘It sounded perfect to me.’
‘The middle refrain was clumsy, but I cannot find a way to fix it, so please do come in and save me from myself. Are you here to practise?’
‘I am, but I fear I am not making any progress. My fingers feel too thick on the keys, like they are overcooked sausages.’ She held out her hands like she was expecting him to agree withher. As quite a few of his fantasies involved those fingers on his body, he did not need to look to know she was talking utter nonsense, although studying them revealed fresh details. Now he noticed the smattering of freckles on the back of her left hand, which stretched almost to her little finger and he knew his mind would latch onto the image and remind him of it at inconvenient moments when he should be thinking about something else.
He stood, moving away from the instrument. ‘I am sure you do not sound as bad as you think. Do have a seat and show me.’
‘I am somewhat reluctant. If you think your playing was bad, I do not know how to describe mine.’ Despite what she said, she came and sat on the pianoforte stool.
‘Do you need to see the music?’ he asked.
