Betsy said she hadn’t seen you since she left you up on deck. I certainly didn’t expect to find you still up here in the dark.”
Kevin stepped out onto the deck just as Lilah was about to go below. The wind immediately caught his hair and blew it around his face, making him look like a hearty seaman with his broad, weathered face. Despite his stocky build and lack of fashionable accoutrements, he was an attractive man. She smiled warmly at him in the soft glow of the lanternlight that spilled over them both from the passageway behind him. She was fond of Kevin, and she saw absolutely no reason why, after marriage, she should not grow to love him. She knew him well; he would hold no surprises for her, and that was a good thing. Starry-eyed dreams of romance were not going to get in the way of what she knew was the right decision. If Kevin’s kisses did not appeal to her—well, it was very likely that she would grow accustomed to them. After all, physical intimacy with a man was very new to her. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a man had kissed her mouth, and Kevin accounted for most of them.
“I was watching the sunset,” she said, accepting thearm he offered and allowing him to help her down the stairs. The passenger cabins were just below the main deck. Roughly a dozen of them provided lodging for perhaps twenty-seven or twenty-eight travelers bound for Barbados. Some of them Lilah knew. Irene Guiltinan ran a dress shop in Bridgetown, and John Haverly owned a smallholding near Ragged Point, which was fairly close to Heart’s Ease. Like herself, they were returning from visits to the Colonies. Others, whom she didn’t know, were bound for Barbados for various reasons that she didn’t trouble herself about. After the voyage, she would probably never see them again. The big planters such as her father lived in a kind of splendid isolation, open only to others like themselves and those who served them.
“I’m glad you’re not still angry with me.” They had almost reached the door to her cabin. Lilah stopped walking and turned to look at Kevin as he spoke. Light from a wall-mounted lantern illuminated each end of the walnut-paneled passage, but the center, where they stood, was in deep shadow. The narrow passageway was deserted, and except for the creaking of the ship, silent. This was the closest they were likely to come to any privacy aboard ship.
“I want to apologize again for my behavior last night. I’m afraid that your beauty quite went to my head. I know I frightened you, and I promise it won’t happen again. Well, at least not until you’re ready.” He added this last with a quick, almost disarming smile.
“You don’t have to apologize, Kevin.” Lilah took a step closer to him and put her hand on his arm. It was firm and muscular through the fine wool of his coat, and she fought against making the inevitable comparison. This was the man who would be her husband, and this was the man who must fill her thoughts. She was determined it be so. “I was as much at fault as you. I should not have reacted as I did. Being kissed is rather new to me, you see.”
He grinned, his hazel eyes twinkling down at her. “Well, I should hope so,” he said, and lifted her hand to his lips. “We’ll go slow,” he promised, and kissed her fingers with a pretty display of gallantry that was totally at odds with his bluff appearance. Lilah, though she tried her best, felt not the smallest tingle. The contact was certainly more pleasant than when Mr. Calvert had slavered over her hand; on the other hand, it did not nearly compare with …
“May I kiss you, Lilah? Properly? I won’t if you’d rather I didn’t.”
He sounded so much in earnest, so intent on winning his way back into her good graces, that she had not the heart to deny him.
“It’s all right. Go ahead,” she said, closing her eyes and lifting her face. Her lips remained primly closed, a silent reminder that
Kevin stepped out onto the deck just as Lilah was about to go below. The wind immediately caught his hair and blew it around his face, making him look like a hearty seaman with his broad, weathered face. Despite his stocky build and lack of fashionable accoutrements, he was an attractive man. She smiled warmly at him in the soft glow of the lanternlight that spilled over them both from the passageway behind him. She was fond of Kevin, and she saw absolutely no reason why, after marriage, she should not grow to love him. She knew him well; he would hold no surprises for her, and that was a good thing. Starry-eyed dreams of romance were not going to get in the way of what she knew was the right decision. If Kevin’s kisses did not appeal to her—well, it was very likely that she would grow accustomed to them. After all, physical intimacy with a man was very new to her. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a man had kissed her mouth, and Kevin accounted for most of them.
“I was watching the sunset,” she said, accepting thearm he offered and allowing him to help her down the stairs. The passenger cabins were just below the main deck. Roughly a dozen of them provided lodging for perhaps twenty-seven or twenty-eight travelers bound for Barbados. Some of them Lilah knew. Irene Guiltinan ran a dress shop in Bridgetown, and John Haverly owned a smallholding near Ragged Point, which was fairly close to Heart’s Ease. Like herself, they were returning from visits to the Colonies. Others, whom she didn’t know, were bound for Barbados for various reasons that she didn’t trouble herself about. After the voyage, she would probably never see them again. The big planters such as her father lived in a kind of splendid isolation, open only to others like themselves and those who served them.
“I’m glad you’re not still angry with me.” They had almost reached the door to her cabin. Lilah stopped walking and turned to look at Kevin as he spoke. Light from a wall-mounted lantern illuminated each end of the walnut-paneled passage, but the center, where they stood, was in deep shadow. The narrow passageway was deserted, and except for the creaking of the ship, silent. This was the closest they were likely to come to any privacy aboard ship.
“I want to apologize again for my behavior last night. I’m afraid that your beauty quite went to my head. I know I frightened you, and I promise it won’t happen again. Well, at least not until you’re ready.” He added this last with a quick, almost disarming smile.
“You don’t have to apologize, Kevin.” Lilah took a step closer to him and put her hand on his arm. It was firm and muscular through the fine wool of his coat, and she fought against making the inevitable comparison. This was the man who would be her husband, and this was the man who must fill her thoughts. She was determined it be so. “I was as much at fault as you. I should not have reacted as I did. Being kissed is rather new to me, you see.”
He grinned, his hazel eyes twinkling down at her. “Well, I should hope so,” he said, and lifted her hand to his lips. “We’ll go slow,” he promised, and kissed her fingers with a pretty display of gallantry that was totally at odds with his bluff appearance. Lilah, though she tried her best, felt not the smallest tingle. The contact was certainly more pleasant than when Mr. Calvert had slavered over her hand; on the other hand, it did not nearly compare with …
“May I kiss you, Lilah? Properly? I won’t if you’d rather I didn’t.”
He sounded so much in earnest, so intent on winning his way back into her good graces, that she had not the heart to deny him.
“It’s all right. Go ahead,” she said, closing her eyes and lifting her face. Her lips remained primly closed, a silent reminder that
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