Oxford Shadows by Marion Croslydon

at her. “But first, I need to make sure that you’re safe.”
    Her lips twisted into a pout that shouted out she didn’t care one iota about his protective instincts. “I need you to believe in me, not protect me.”
    He could see a tear was threatening to fall from the corner of her eye. He felt like a total ass. “I want you to come and live with me.”
    Her mouth morphed from a turned-down look of stubborn resistance to one of surprise. “What?”

15

    RUPERT LEANED ACROSS the table, eager to make his point before Louise came back. He grabbed Madison’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her skin was soft under his. “Come and live with me.”
    A muffled sound of dismay escaped from Madison’s mouth and she shook her head. “Where does that come from?”
    Rupert gave another quick glance toward where Louise had disappeared a few minutes earlier. The way was still clear, but he had to hurry.
    “Monty’s gone. We’ll have the house to ourselves. I can be with you every night, when the nightmares scare you, every morning to talk them through, so that you’re never alone, ever again.” He wasn’t just pleading, he was begging.
    She shook her head again and pulled her hand away from his. “This is a bit sudden, don’t you think?”
    Her hesitation slapped Rupert like a full-blown rejection. “We’re a bit different from everybody else, don’t you think?” His words cut through her and she flinched. “At least our circumstances are.”
    Madison ran her tongue over her lips while her gaze shifted to follow the crowd passing by beneath the Randolph’s windows.
    “You don’t need to answer now, or even today … just think about it.” His voice was searching for her and trying to bring her back to him, to them. “After what happened with Camilla and what you found at Hampton Court, we have to …” He looked for his words. “I can look after you better if we share the same roof.”
    An invisible curtain had fallen between them; her spine and neck had turned to iron.
    “So you can check I’m not going totally cuckoo?” she challenged him.
    But Louise was now standing by her side. “I’m ready to go.” Her purse hung from her bony shoulder and she didn’t hide her desire for lunch to be over.
    If the nun had afforded Rupert a better treatment than the straight aversion she had shown Sam, she wasn’t yet part of Rupert’s fan club. Mental note: schmooze Louise LeBon. Harder. But not today … Madison stood as well. Grabbing his credit card and receipt from the table, he signaled for them to take the lead toward the exit. Soon they faced each other on the pavement outside the hotel.
    Madison lifted her hands, palms upward. “It’s the warmest day of the spring so far.”
    “Walk me back to my house, please.” Louise directed the request to her niece. The invitation hadn’t been extended to her boyfriend.
    Rupert took the hint. “Thank you very much for taking the time to meet me, Miss LeBon. It means a lot to me.” And because he didn’t see any reason to keep his cards close to his chest, he added, “Madison means a lot to me.”
    While the statement had been made to Louise, his gaze was wrapped around Madison. Her stare flickered at him until she cast her eyes back downward. Electricity heated up the space between them, and he resented the void. He resented Louise LeBon for stealing Madison from him. Madison’s hands were pressed together in front of her while she waited for her aunt and Rupert to say their goodbyes.
    Rupert wanted to take Madison in his arms, tell her he’d be there for her, whatever happened. Forever. If only she would let him.
     
    Embarrassment weighed on Madison’s heart while she walked up St. Giles, her arm entwined with Louise’s. She had behaved like a ten-year-old kid trying to score brownie points with her teacher. She was twenty-two years old, yet still she had to please her aunt. Or at least she felt like she had to.
    “That’s probably the fanciest