Wrong Place. Wrong Time. Right Viscount.

Chapter 15

Alec waited three days before returning to actually deliver the items for his father to Chestwick. He had come to the country to take time to examine his feelings and that had become even more important after he’d seen Elle on the balcony and he’d nearly lost his mind. So he’d stayed away.

When he finally did come back, the MacTavish’s butler, Embry, answered the door.

“Lord Kentworth,” Embry said with a low bow, a smile crinkling the weathered skin around his light blue eyes.

“Hello Embry. It is good to see you.”

“It has been too long. Please come in, come in. I’m afraid Lord MacTavish has not arrived from the city as of yet.”

“Oh that’s alright. My father just asked me to bring a few things for him.”

He handed the package over to Embry after they entered the sitting room, the older man nodding and assuring Alec he would make sure that Callum received it as soon as he arrived.

“Embry who—oh Alec, dear!” Jocelyn said, beaming as she walked into the room.

Feigning ignorance, Alec said, “Oh, Lady Mac—Jocy,” he corrected when she gave him a pointed look. He’d missed the relaxed freedom he felt here, away from the rest of the world. Where he could just be Alec and she could just be Jocy and things were so much easier. “I didn’t know that you had already arrived.”

“Oh, yes, Elle and I came a few days early while Callum and Rose remained. She didn’t want to miss the last dance of the season in the city with Percival, of course. I suspect he is going to propose next week when he and his family stay with us here.”

“It is so hard to imagine Rosie married,” Alec said with a shake of his head. “I suppose I still see her as the firebrand chasing me with snakes and pushing me into the creek.” They both chuckled.

“Yes, it is hard to believe she is soon to be someone’s wife,” Jocelyn agreed with a wistful sigh. “It all happens in the blink of an eye. You’ll understand one day, when you have a family of your own.” Alec simply bobbed his head, but Jocelyn studied him in that way of hers, stripping away all of his defenses.

“You love her, don’t you?” Jocy asked softly. Alec jerked and cleared his throat, and she laughed lightly. “Don’t worry—I think it is only so obvious to me because I’ve known you practically all your life.”

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, frowning slightly. He hadn’t realized quite how unruly it had become.

“I…” he swallowed hard and squared his shoulders, “yes, I do,” he admitted, looking to her imploringly, suddenly feeling like a child again needing a mother to fix all the worlds’ problems for him with a biscuit and a kiss.

“I know that this courtship was a falsity,” Jocy said, surprising him. Alec paled slightly. He thought about denying it, but there was no use.

“Are you angry with me?”

“Of course not, dear. If you’d been the only one in on the ruse, leaving Elle to believe you truly did mean to marry her, then I would have Callum tan your hide.” She smiled and he relaxed, huffing out a soft laugh.

“And you’ve known all this time?”

Jocy nodded. “Elle told me soon after the two of you started your scheming.” She gave him a look that was half amusement, half chiding. “But no, I wasn’t angry about it. Elle has been through so much, had so many things thrust upon her, so many choices taken from her…if she wanted this arrangement with you, then I could never begrudge her that”

A sadness that Alec couldn’t understand, but felt like a lead weight in his gut, passed over Jocelyn’s features. What did she mean? What had happened to Eleanor? It was true that she never wanted to speak much about her past, always shying away from the subject or giving him only the barest, vaguest details, but he had never been sure why. And it hadn’t seemed polite to ask when she so clearly did not wish him to know. Had she suffered some sort of tragedy? Had she been hurt in some way? The thought of someone hurting her made Alec’s vision burn red for a moment, his blood boiling in his veins.

“But,” Jocy added, giving him a meaningful look, “if your feelings have changed…well, there is a good chance hers have as well.” Alec’s brows rose and hope flooded his chest like warm embers being stoked to life in a nearly darkened hearth.

“Do you mean…?” Alec held his breath, feeling as if his entire existence was poised on the edge of a razor, waiting for the answer. Could Elle possibly love him the way he loved her? Jocelyn didn’t give him one outright, but her smile was answer enough. He exhaled finally, the relief filling his chest and making him feel as if he could fly.

“Elle is drawing in the garden, if you’d like to see her. I’ll have Embry bring some tea and sandwiches.”

Alec’s lips curled and he kissed Jocy on the cheek before making his way to the garden. He inhaled quietly when he saw Elle sitting on a blanket, brow furrowed as the pencil flew over the paper. She was in a simple dress of lilac that fortunately—or unfortunately?—covered far more than what she’d been wearing the last time he’d seen her. Images of her on the balcony surfaced: the bare skin of her legs, the pert curve of her backside, the way the strap had slipped down her shoulder and his intense need to place his lips where it had just been. He shook himself, forcing the images away.

She didn’t seem to hear him approaching, lost in her art, so he had the opportunity to sneak a look at her drawing. He blinked several times in surprise. It was him. In the drawing, his eyes were downcast, but there was a soft, easy smile on his lips that he wasn’t sure he wore around anyone but Elle. Something about the fact that she was drawing him made him rub the heel of his hand over his chest, directly over his heart. He took a silent, steadying breath.

“I don’t think you captured my obscene handsomeness accurately,” he said in a teasing tone. She gasped and turned her eyes up to find him grinning. “Although, to be fair, looks like mine simply cannot be duplicated. Many have tried. All have failed.”

Her lips thinned, but he could tell she was fighting a smile.

“And you are so humble. I believe that’s your best quality.”

He scoffed. “Don’t be silly. My best quality is clearly my enormous fortune.” She giggled, making him grin, and she gestured to the blanket beside her just as Embry brought out the tea and sandwiches.

“I didn’t know that you would be here already,” he lied, avoiding her gaze and focusing instead on selecting a sandwich from the tray.

“Oh, yes. The city was becoming a bit overwhelming, so Aunt Jocy and I came a little early. I love it here,” she said, sighing wistfully and leaning her head back as a breeze blew through the garden, bringing the scent of roses with it.

“I do too. I practically lived here as a boy.”

“Oh that’s right. I’d forgotten your property abuts this one.” Alec nodded and pointed to the west.

“That way, through those trees.” He eyed her for a moment before asking, “Would you like to come see it?” He didn’t know why he felt so nervous suddenly, but it faded when she smiled widely. God, she really did have a beautiful smile. It was enough to make his chest ache at the sight.

“I would love that.”

And so, after finishing off the tea and sandwiches, they spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds of Pembroke, the Kentworth family estate, with Embry in tow behind them as to not be improper, of course. The old man, who might as well have been Alec’s grandfather, smiled genially as he watched them. There was a look in his eyes that told Alec that he knew exactly how Alec felt. Christ, does everyone know?

Alec couldn’t help stealing glances at Elle as they meandered through the trees. It was truly idyllic, with the birds chirping around them, the scent of flowers in the air, and the sunlight filtering through the canopy, making Elle’s hair seem to sparkle. They stowed their horses—after a race to the stable, of course, Elle laughing wildly and Alec calling her a cheater from behind her—and strolled through his mother’s gardens.

“She spent hours out here, almost every day. She loved it so much,” Alec said around the sudden lump in his throat.

“It’s beautiful,” Elle said as she trailed her fingers over the blooms. “I’m a terrible gardener. I kill almost everything I touch.” She scrunched her nose in an utterly adorable fashion and Alec dramatically threw himself between her and the rose bushes, holding up his hands to thwart her off. She stepped back quickly in surprise, dropping her hand.

“Back! Back you murderer!”

Elle practically snorted with laughter but then wiggled her fingers in the air in his direction, that glint of playful mischief he loved so much glittering in her eyes.

“Hmm, maybe it doesn’t only work on plants.” She reached towards him and he leapt away nimbly. “Is the great Lord Kentworth afraid?” She reached for him again and he backed away down the path.

“Eleanor,” he warned, but he was grinning. She raced after him as he ran backwards. “It is really unbecoming of a lady to,” he darted to the side as she lunged for him, “chase after a man, you know.”

“How many times do I have to remind you that I’m not a lady?”

The path ahead parted and curved around a great stone fountain, a statue of Boudica on a rearing horse in the center. Alec ran to the left and Elle to the right. They stared at each other over the pool between them, both breathing hard, both beaming. Elle made to move to the right, so Alec moved left. She moved left, so Alec moved right.

“Are you afraid of me, Alexander?”

“Terrified,” he said, honestly. This woman terrified him in so many ways. Terrified him and thrilled him and tantalized him and challenged him. She laughed at that, but then shifted her gaze over his shoulder, her smile faltering and a look of horror coming over her features.

“Oh my God,” she whispered in terror.

Alec’s chest tightened and he whirled, wondering what could possibly have frightened Eleanor so badly, the need to protect her flaring within him.

But he saw nothing.

He heard the splashing and turned back just in time to have water flung into his face by a giggling Eleanor who was now standing in the knee-deep water of the fountain just a few meters away.

“I cannot believe you fell for that!” She put her hands on her hips, looking proud of herself.

“Oh you little wench,” he said in a low growl before he leapt over the edge of the fountain and joined her in the pool. She squealed as he kicked up water in her direction, and Alec was fairly sure that Embry probably thought they were insane, but he didn’t care. Elle splashed him back and soon they were both drenched and laughing so hard they could barely breathe. He felt like a child again, a lightness radiating down to his soul that he thought was gone forever.

Alec tried to ignore the way her dress clung to her skin, the fabric doing little to hide the curves of her breasts and hips, the flat planes of her stomach. They’d neared each other without even realizing it, now standing so close that their chests almost touched as their breaths sawed in and out of their lungs. Water spiked her lashes and ran in rivulets down her cheeks. He reached out without thinking and brushed a drop away with his thumb. Her breath hitched and her skin flushed, her eyes burning. Alec didn’t drop his hand and she didn’t move away.

“Alec,” she whispered.

“Yes?” His voice was low and gruff.

She licked her lips once, eyes darting down to his own for a moment. Could she want to kiss him as badly as he wanted to kiss her? No, no he didn’t think such a thing was possible. He shifted forward ever so slightly. Damn the rules, damn what was proper, damn it all. He needed Elle like he needed air, and he was desperate to breathe.

She tilted her face up towards his, her breaths coming fast and shallow.

“Alec, I…” She shook herself and stepped back from him. “I’m glad that I met you,” she said in a strangely sad tone. “I never wanted to come here, but…but I’m glad that I did because meeting you has been…” She swallowed hard, as if fighting to get words out—or maybe fighting to hold them back. “I…Alec, I…”

“What on earth is going on out here?”

Elle gasped and they both whirled to find Jonathan Kentworth standing down the path beside Embry, Bennett not far behind, all of them looking utterly amused at the scene before them.

“It, uh, seemed like a good afternoon for a swim,” Alec said ruefully, grinning crookedly at his father.

“Children,” his father said, shaking his head but chuckling low. “Come on then, have some supper with your father and get out of the damned fountain. Eleanor, it’s lovely to see you again, my dear.”

Alec and Elle shared a look and, despite the tense moment before, they smiled at each other and made their way out of the fountain and into the house, Emmett complaining good-naturedly about the mess the two of them were making as they were ushered in different directions in search of dry clothes.

Once dressed—Elle was about the same size as his mother and looked beautiful in one of her old rose-colored gowns—they ended their day with dinner and drinks and laughter with Alec’s father.

“Oh, I know a good one!” Elle said, taking a long sip of wine. They had been trying to flummox each other with riddles all evening, and Alec had to admit that Eleanor was incredibly adept in solving them—and stumping Alec and Jonathan as well.

“A man rode into town on Friday, stayed for two days, and left on Friday. How did he do it?” She shifted her gaze between the two men, looking smug.

Alec rubbed his chin as he thought through the riddle, and Jonathan repeated it back, slowly.

“Two days?”

Elle nodded. “Two days.”

Jonathan steepled his fingers in front of his lips and thought hard, narrowing his eyes at Eleanor, who merely grinned back. She shifted her gaze to Alec and gave him a haughty look. Alec ground his teeth, but after a few minutes, finally threw up his hands. “Oh just tell us already!”

“The horse’s name was Friday,” Elle said with a satisfied smirk.

“The horse’s…” Jonathan repeated before roaring with laughter. Elle joined in and Alec couldn’t help but follow suit. It was…perfect. Alec hadn’t felt so content, so truly happy in so long. Eventually, the hour grew late and Emmett brought the carriage around for Elle.

“Thank you for visiting with an old man,” Jonathan told Elle as he walked her to the door.

She waved his old man comment away. “You still look like a spring chicken to me,” she said. Alec still wasn’t used to some of her stranger turns of phrase, but Jonathan seemed to like this one, grinning widely.

“Will you be coming to the ball?” she asked on the front steps.

“For you my dear, I will make an appearance,” Jonathan said, inclining his head and kissing the back of her hand.

“I will see you there, then.” She bid them both goodbye, and Alec watched the carriage as it took her farther and farther from him. Jonathan smiled and clapped a hand on Alec’s shoulder, squeezing tightly.

“What?” Alec asked as he closed the door.

“You’ve found someone to show you how to be happy, my boy,” his father said with a wink.