so firmly engaged.
This was the time for gentle words like admire and esteem, not like. Not love.
She needed to remember that. To not rush herself or Ian. Her mother had told her long ago that the swiftest way to disengage the attentions of a gentleman was to declare one’s feelings too quickly, and Hero didn’t want that at all.
“I’d like to apologize once again for my father’s beh avior this afternoon,” she said finally, rising and taking a step away, breaking the intimate bubble that had cocooned them. “It was most unbecoming a duke of England.”
“Think nothing of it,” he responded, his brogue low and husky as he rose as well. He towered over her so Hero had to tilt her head back to look at him.
“And thank you once again for offering your aid in retrieving him. I don’t know how I would have gotten him out otherwise.”
Ian’s eyes were dark with something Hero couldn’t define, but she soldiered on , “You’re very good with him.”
“He’s a good man, Hero, if a tad impetuous.” Ian paused and reached out to take her hand. “Though I do not cater to the duke to gain your favor, it gratifies me that in doing so I please you.”
Hero blushed once again and looked down at their entwined hands. Oh, he did please her ever so much! “He is a good man, and no one shows him the kind of patience and even camaraderie that you have today. Not my brother or sisters or even myself.”
“Perhaps I get on so well with him because I am a child at heart myself,” Ian said with a nonchalant shrug. “But before you think too highly of me you should know that I so envied him the pleasure of jumping into those cool waters, I appreciated an excuse to follow him in. With the weather being so unusually hot, I would have been hard put not to encourage him to give it a go if he hadn’t leapt in on his own.”
Hero just shook her head and , rising to her toes, pressed a tender kiss to Ian’s cheek. “ You are a good man, my lord Ayr. Thank you.”
Ian slanted his brows , offering a decidedly roguish grin. “If going about my normal business gains me your sweet kisses, I shall have to try to be a better man and see what more happens.”
Hero raised a brow at his suggestive words, trying to gauge his intent. “Are you toying with me, Lord Ayr? Now that I am not a sister, do you believe that a lonely widow in your home might be an easy conquest for you?”
The words might normally have offended Ian, impugning as they did his honor and integrity, but he couldn’t take offense. Her words were nothing more than an honest inquiry, he could tell. If Hero were curious for his intentions, he was no less. This entire situation, this unusual yet undeniable magnetism, was quite beyond anything he’d ever experienced. It had been so instantaneous that he couldn’t recall a single moment of detachment.
And he wasn’t alone in being rather mystified by the intense desire between them. Ian would wager his life on it. Hero felt the compelling attraction between them as irresistibly as he did, whether she had admitted as much or not. Her long looks over the tedious carriage ride the previous day and those in the gardens that morning had proven it, and he didn’t believe it was merely gratitude for him allowing Hero her home. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
All of it was a portent of things to come and, for a woman of questionable experience, perhaps a source of indecision. He could do little but say what was in his heart to calm her fears. Stepping closer, Ian reached out to cup her cheek in his palm. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip as he pulled her closer. “Do you truly believe I toy with you, Hero? That I see you as nothing but a body to warm my bed?”
Her cheeks flushed scarlet but she didn’t look away. Nor did she answer.
A tender smile curled the corner of Ian’s mouth as he moved even closer, his other
This was the time for gentle words like admire and esteem, not like. Not love.
She needed to remember that. To not rush herself or Ian. Her mother had told her long ago that the swiftest way to disengage the attentions of a gentleman was to declare one’s feelings too quickly, and Hero didn’t want that at all.
“I’d like to apologize once again for my father’s beh avior this afternoon,” she said finally, rising and taking a step away, breaking the intimate bubble that had cocooned them. “It was most unbecoming a duke of England.”
“Think nothing of it,” he responded, his brogue low and husky as he rose as well. He towered over her so Hero had to tilt her head back to look at him.
“And thank you once again for offering your aid in retrieving him. I don’t know how I would have gotten him out otherwise.”
Ian’s eyes were dark with something Hero couldn’t define, but she soldiered on , “You’re very good with him.”
“He’s a good man, Hero, if a tad impetuous.” Ian paused and reached out to take her hand. “Though I do not cater to the duke to gain your favor, it gratifies me that in doing so I please you.”
Hero blushed once again and looked down at their entwined hands. Oh, he did please her ever so much! “He is a good man, and no one shows him the kind of patience and even camaraderie that you have today. Not my brother or sisters or even myself.”
“Perhaps I get on so well with him because I am a child at heart myself,” Ian said with a nonchalant shrug. “But before you think too highly of me you should know that I so envied him the pleasure of jumping into those cool waters, I appreciated an excuse to follow him in. With the weather being so unusually hot, I would have been hard put not to encourage him to give it a go if he hadn’t leapt in on his own.”
Hero just shook her head and , rising to her toes, pressed a tender kiss to Ian’s cheek. “ You are a good man, my lord Ayr. Thank you.”
Ian slanted his brows , offering a decidedly roguish grin. “If going about my normal business gains me your sweet kisses, I shall have to try to be a better man and see what more happens.”
Hero raised a brow at his suggestive words, trying to gauge his intent. “Are you toying with me, Lord Ayr? Now that I am not a sister, do you believe that a lonely widow in your home might be an easy conquest for you?”
The words might normally have offended Ian, impugning as they did his honor and integrity, but he couldn’t take offense. Her words were nothing more than an honest inquiry, he could tell. If Hero were curious for his intentions, he was no less. This entire situation, this unusual yet undeniable magnetism, was quite beyond anything he’d ever experienced. It had been so instantaneous that he couldn’t recall a single moment of detachment.
And he wasn’t alone in being rather mystified by the intense desire between them. Ian would wager his life on it. Hero felt the compelling attraction between them as irresistibly as he did, whether she had admitted as much or not. Her long looks over the tedious carriage ride the previous day and those in the gardens that morning had proven it, and he didn’t believe it was merely gratitude for him allowing Hero her home. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
All of it was a portent of things to come and, for a woman of questionable experience, perhaps a source of indecision. He could do little but say what was in his heart to calm her fears. Stepping closer, Ian reached out to cup her cheek in his palm. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip as he pulled her closer. “Do you truly believe I toy with you, Hero? That I see you as nothing but a body to warm my bed?”
Her cheeks flushed scarlet but she didn’t look away. Nor did she answer.
A tender smile curled the corner of Ian’s mouth as he moved even closer, his other
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