Page 20 of To Steal a Kiss

Opening a door at random, Nate stuck his head around and reassured himself it was empty. Alice followed him in and lingered by the door as he hunted around for a tinder box and matches.

He only lit two candles, too impatient to do more, but he needed to see her. A quick fumble in the dark was, rather to his surprise, the last thing he wanted.

She stood against the door, petite and slender, with those rioting red curls tumbling about her face.

“You ought not be here,” he said, with a rueful smile.

“N-Now you t-tell me,” she said, sounding a little indignant.

To his delight, he realised she was teasing him, and he laughed, ever more charmed as she beamed at him. He moved back to her, noting how her breath hitched and the colour rose to her cheeks once again. God, she was lovely. Those dreams of home and family and things he’d not allowed himself to think about for so many years tumbled through his mind again, his heart, as he gazed at her.

Nate paused as the realisation that this was not a dalliance, that he ought not to have brought her here to this darkened room, made guilt flare in his chest. He could ruin her as Matilda had been ruined.

Except he couldn’t.

Wouldn’t.

If they were caught, he would marry her. He wasn’t a man like Montagu, and this woman wasn’t someone he was toying with. The realisation ought to have terrified him, but all it did was give him a sense of peace.

When he was close enough to touch her, he raised his hand, stroking her cheek with the back of one finger. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he admitted, relieved to say it aloud at last. “About that night. You’ve haunted my every thought. I dream of you. I feel like I’m going mad.”

“I know,” she whispered, staring up at him.

He let out a breath, realising in that moment just how much he’d feared hearing anything other than that from her.

“May I kiss you again, Alice?” he asked, breathless with anticipation. Nothing had ever mattered more than the answer to this question.

She stared up at him and he waited, wondering what she saw, what decisions were being made behind those sky-blue eyes. When she nodded, Nate sighed with relief and reached for her, only to stop in his tracks as she pressed her hand to his chest, holding him back.

“Is…?” She swallowed, apparently needing a moment to gather her courage. “Is there a… a footstool?”

He grinned and moved away to search the room. It was sparsely furnished, unlike the rest of the rooms he’d seen tonight, which had been overstuffed and decorated to the hilt. No footstool was apparent, sadly, but as luck would have it, there was a mahogany sideboard. Gesturing for Alice to take his hand, he pulled her towards it and then picked her up by the waist and sat her atop it. She weighed nothing and he kept his hands at her tiny waist, pleased as she grasped his arms and didn’t let go.

“There,” he said, triumphant. “Up where you belong.”

She said nothing, just stared at him, rather wide-eyed. He felt a pang of regret for the clandestine nature of this meeting. What the devil was he playing at?

“Second thoughts?” he guessed, his smile falling away. This woman ought to be courted in full view, with pride, not hurried into a shady corner. “I’ll take you back. I ought never—”

“No!” she said at once, clutching harder at his arms and shaking her head. “No,” she repeated, softer, yet firmer this time. “I’m just… gathering my courage

“I’ve been doing that all evening,” he said, reaching out and taking hold of one of those tantalising curls, twisting the silky lock about his fingers.

“You have?”

She sounded so incredulous that he laughed.

“I have,” he assured her, tugging a little on the curl. “I was afraid you might not recognise me or, if you did, that… that you might not be pleased to see me.”

“Not pleased?” she echoed, staring at him. “Are you mad? I’ve thought of nothing but seeing you again.”

Nate grinned, more delighted by this artless confession than he cared to consider.

Alice bit her lip and frowned. “I ought not say such things, I suppose. But it is true.”

To his surprise, she reached for his hand, holding it between both of her own and studying it before lacing their fingers together.

“Nate?”