29. Chapter 29
The next morning, Andrew knocked on Emma’s bedroom door.
The only response he received was a low woof.
Shrugging, he opened the door and let himself into the darkened room.
Fergus jumped off the bed to come over and sniff his boots.
He patted the dog’s large head before heading across the room to the four-poster bed to set down a mug of steaming hot chocolate on the bedside table.
“Emma, rise and shine. There is a surprise to be found outside your window.”
He went to the window and pulled aside the curtains, letting the bright morning sun spill into the room. Andrew smiled when the lump on the bed groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Emma was not a morning person.
Rounding the bed, he climbed on, settling himself on his side facing Emma’s blanket-covered self. He poked her with one finger.
“Andrew, get out of my bed! You know you’re not supposed to be in my room,” Emma admonished him from under the covers.
“If you would wake up, sleepyhead, you would see it snowed overnight. It is a white wonderland outside.”
The covers flipped down, and Emma’s head popped out. “Truly?”
“Yes, truly.” He leaned in and gave her a swift kiss on the mouth. “Go see for yourself.”
Emma tumbled out of bed to rush over to the window, giving Andrew an excellent view of her long bare legs and one tantalizing bare shoulder as she crossed the room in her nightgown.
He had not made love to her since she had turned down his offer of marriage.
He hoped by giving her some space from the intimacy, she would come to him when she was ready to trust in their relationship.
But it had been damn hard to keep his hands off her.
She stood in front of the window, her nose pressed against the cold glass.
The sunlight filtered through her thin cotton nightgown, giving him an outline of her luscious curves.
He shifted off the bed. Perhaps it was a mistake to be in her bedroom.
His trousers felt uncomfortably tight across his growing erection.
Despite his better judgment, he was pulled toward her. “Care to go for a walk?” Coming up behind Emma, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. Even first thing in morning, she smelled so good.
“That sounds lovely, Andrew, but I have to tell you something.” She turned out of his arms and walked over to pick up the mug of hot chocolate.
She blew across the top before taking a cautious sip.
“Yesterday afternoon, I received a letter from Lucy. It sounds as though she is quite overwhelmed with taking care of the children and the household. I think it’s time I go home. ”
Andrew frowned. He had hoped for a little more time before they were thrown back into the craziness of everyday life. She looked up at him, eyes wide and plaintive. He sighed. “I suppose I cannot keep you prisoner here forever.”
“Thank you, Andrew. When do you think we can leave?”
“Well, it snowed a good four or five inches. It may take a few days for the roads to be passable. Will that be all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine.” She smiled. “Now let me be alone with my hot chocolate, and I’ll get dressed so we can go on our walk after breakfast.”
Andrew tugged her toward him for one more kiss. Her lips were warm, inviting, and tasted sweet. Kissing this woman was beginning to be as important to him as breathing. Reluctantly, he broke away and left her to her hot chocolate.
Outside, the landscape sparkled. Emma marveled at how fresh and new the whole world looked, covered in a layer of white snow, as she and Andrew ambled down the path around the lake.
Tree branches were coated in a layer of ice.
The snow on the ground reflected the bright winter sunshine.
As she walked, Emma kicked her booted feet up, watching the powdery snow spray.
Fergus ran ahead, loping through the snow, leaving giant paw prints for them to follow. He caught scent of something, and snuffling his nose into a large bush, he let out a deep woof. A rabbit streaked out the other side of the bush, and the race was on.
“Fergus! Forget about it,” she called out. He disappeared through the trees. “Oh dear, do you think he will get lost?”
“No, he has been walking around the property for two weeks now. I think he should be able to find his way home,” Andrew replied.
Always able to discern what she was feeling, he took her hand, and he hooked it into the crook of his arm, pulling her close.
“Let’s follow him. Through those trees, it opens up to the sheep pasture.
Perhaps the herd will distract him from his prey. ”
They needn’t have worried. As they emerged into the field behind the stables, they saw Jack and Vivian on the other side of the stable yard.
Her puppy frolicked in the snow. Fergus was with them, keeping an eye on the beagle puppy as it tumbled around, trying to maneuver in the snow.
Jack gave them a wave. Andrew waved, then steered Emma back to the path to continue their walk.
“Don’t you want to go say hello?” Emma asked, glancing back over her shoulder.
“No, I just want to have you to myself for now, especially as I will soon have to share you with your brood back in London.”
Emma sighed. “True. I never thought I would say this, but I miss them. The whole crazy lot. I think I miss all the snuggles the most. The boys always race into my room in the mornings and jump into bed with me.”
“The time when they are small is so short. That’s one reason I couldn’t send Grayson off to school just yet. I know it’s unfashionable, but my father didn’t send me to school until I was eleven. I much prefer to have Grayson home for a little while longer.”
“Their schooling is the one thing I worry about the most. My mother always insisted on a good education. Even we girls got to learn more than just how to run a household. I had to let our governess go last year. I am afraid I am not doing a very good job of continuing the children’s studies.
I am simply not cut out for teaching,” Emma replied.
Andrew squeezed her hand. “I know I wouldn’t have the patience for teaching either.”
Emma stopped in her tracks. “Oh, look at the lake. It looks like a fairy wonderland.”
They paused to take in the view. The lake was so still, it looked like a mirror reflecting the blue sky above.
All around, snow glistened on the banks and along the trees.
A bird whistled, and Andrew pointed, silently calling Emma’s attention to a deer as it emerged from the trees.
It nibbled on the leaves of a large bush near the water.
“I wish I had any talent at all for drawing. What a perfect winter scene,” she whispered. The deer must have smelled them because his head snapped up. In a flash, leaving a last glimpse of his white tail, he disappeared.
Andrew took her hand in his, and they walked slowly back to the house.
Their stride matched perfectly as they strolled.
Despite the lovely surroundings, Emma couldn’t relax.
How was she going to break off her relationship with Andrew?
She knew no matter how hard it would be to say goodbye, she could not consider stealing the ruby necklace from him, or from the duchess, for that matter.
And she had a bad feeling her uncle wouldn’t stop at that one piece but would continue to use her to gain more pieces.
Her throat constricted. Charles was never going to let her be free of the life.
Perhaps the best way would be to start an argument of some sort on the way back to London.
She would be her surliest, most awful self and hope something might come up naturally that she could use as a springboard for a fight.
But until then, she had every intention of enjoying her last days of being his captive in this beautiful place.
Fergus bounded up the path toward them, his happiness at finding her evident in his exuberant greeting. Emma bent down to give him a hug around his wet shaggy neck. The soft slap of a snowball hit her backside. She straightened and turned toward Andrew, outraged, hands on her hips. “Oh, you brute!”
A boyish grin spread wide across his face. “It was such a lovely target.”
Reaching down, Emma quickly made a snowball and launched it at Andrew’s head.
He was too quick though, ducking behind a tree, and her snowball missed its mark.
From behind his cover, he threw another at her, hitting her in the stomach this time.
Emma darted to the left and, crouching behind a tree, made her own arsenal of snowballs.
Her pride stung. Her aim would be better if she could use her right arm properly.
This was not her first snowball fight. She would just have to improvise.
Peeking around, she lobbed one underhand with her left hand that grazed Andrew’s shoulder.
“Ha!” she called out.
A snowball hit the tree right above her head.
Andrew came out to launch another at her, but she popped out from the other side of her tree and nailed him in the chest as he raised his arm to throw. It left behind a satisfying white splotch on his black coat. Emma giggled at the look of shock on his face.
“Oh, you’re going to get it now.” He advanced toward her hiding spot. She squealed and turned to run away, but Andrew was faster, and he grabbed her around the waist from behind.
“You’re at my mercy,” he whispered in her ear. Then he lost his footing on a patch of ice, and they both tumbled to the ground, falling into a drift of snow, which cushioned their landing.
Andrew sat up. “Did I hurt your shoulder?”
“No, I’m fine.” She glanced up at him through her lashes with a what she hoped was a sultry smile. “Come here.”
As Andrew leaned down, she wrapped an arm up and smashed the snowball she held in her glove into the back of his neck. She cackled in glee at his expression as the cold snow rolled down his collar.
“If you think a little snow could deter me from your lips, you are sadly mistaken.” He leaned in and kissed her. His lips were warm against hers. She delighted at the instant heat that lit between them. Then a cold wet nose broke in, and Fergus’ rough tongue licked her cheek.
“Fergus! Get away, you fool, this isn’t a group activity.” Andrew pulled away. He gave Fergus a shove. “Sit, you behemoth.”
He glanced back to Emma, and they both started to laugh at the dog’s innocent expression.
Fergus sat on his haunches, his tongue lolling out to one side.
Andrew fell back into the snow next to Emma, and they lay there, breathless.
Emma stared up at the tree branches glistening with ice as they stretched into a blue sky.
“This place—Stoneleigh, I mean—is wonderful. The children would love it here. Most of them have never been out to the country. My parents preferred the distractions of the city.”
Andrew turned on his side, his head propped up on one hand. He ran one gloved finger down her cheek. “Marry me, and we will bring the whole lot out here where they can roam free and explore. The dogs too.” He smiled before kissing her cold lips.
She broke the kiss. Rolling away, she sat up, her heart breaking. “It sounds wonderful. But don’t you see, I can’t.”
Andrew’s expression shuttered. He stood up and reached down to help Emma to her feet. Then he pulled her into his arms and stared at her silently, his brows knitted over eyes that simmered with questions.
“Don’t you see?” Emma was desperate to explain, desperate to get away from his kind eyes and his warm embrace, both of which threatened to crumble her carefully constructed walls of self-preservation.
The truth tumbled out of her mouth, heedless of the warning from her brain.
“I can’t risk it. If I marry you, I will most certainly not be able to keep myself from loving you.
And I will be devastated when it all falls apart.
I don’t think my heart can take another betrayal…
it is too fragile. It has been pieced back together too many times. ”
“I don’t understand. I would never hurt you intentionally.”
Emma pushed against his chest and stepped away from him. “You are a man, aren’t you?” She threw out the well-aimed barb meant to slice at him, make him pull away.
His eyes went hard. Instead of retreating, he advanced toward her, and she took a couple of steps back.
“Do not compare me to other men you have known. I recognize I have faults. We all do, my pretty little thief.” He took another step forward.
His face inches from hers. “Your fear is blocking you from reaching for happiness, nothing else. And you know what? I think you already love me.”
“No! No, I don’t.” Emma shook her head back and forth in denial. But inside, she knew he was right. When had her foolish heart betrayed her? She was so careful. She took her pleasure but knew not to risk her heart.
Images flashed one after another through her mind.
The two of them laughing while they danced around the ballroom.
His handsome face smiling down at her as he handed her hot chocolate.
Andrew in the garden, organizing the children and dogs into neat rows.
His kind words and genuine concern for the people he talked to in the village.
His eyes, stormy with desire, as he made love to her.
Oh God, she did love him! Panic coursed through her, and she did what any animal does when cornered. She ran.
Andrew cursed as Emma turned and flew away from him down the snowy path.
“I love you too,” he murmured. Nobody but the dog was around to hear the words. He spun to face out toward the water and let out a frustrated breath in a puff of white air. That confounded woman was so stubborn.
He would be damned before he proposed to her again.
Any woman in Britain would be happy to be his duchess, but no, he wanted the one woman who wouldn’t have him.
He could force her hand easily enough. She had just spent two weeks with him.
Chaperones or not, he could threaten her reputation…
but then he would be just as manipulative as all the other men in her life had been.
He took another deep breath of frigid air.
No, with this skittish lady, he would just have to be patient.
But he could damn well make it difficult for her to keep her distance.
He smiled to himself. It was time he took his brother’s advice.
Andrew whistled as he made his way back to the house and looked forward to executing his next move.