Staying out of sight had not been easy for the past weeks, but he’d had no choice. After the Swansdown came the Berford. Prachett had demanded Avery lose at both tourneys, promising to harm Leah if he did not comply. Though the lies gnawed at him daily, he did as he was bidden, losing to boxers who he could have readily beaten. The duke had never mentioned anything, Avery knew that his actions must look suspicious.
Besides, staying near to Leah would only have strengthened the connection that should never have formed at all— that had put her very life in danger tonight and all the nights she’d been in his life.
Then why do you follow her still? his subconscious mocked him. He had no choice. The gunshot tonight had been a warning from Prachett’s men; he knew that.
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To ensure Avery’s continued assistance, they would do much worse to Leah.
Ignoring the thought, he ducked behind the manor house just beyond Lady Chesterfield’s. He watched from the cover of shrubbery as Lady Chesterfield and Leah descended the carriage and headed into the house.
He sighed with relief, as he did every night when she’d returned home safely. The carriage rumbled to a start, heading for its home in the stables.
Guilt chased him, ever his constant companion. He should not follow her. He should not steal after her in the night like a thief. But it was his fault her life was in danger. He must protect her if he could.
“Sorry, Lady Chesterfield. I forgot my fan in the carriage.”
Leah’s voice floated to him, the sweet sound drawing memories that he longed to relive. He ducked lower as she descended the front steps and followed the path the carriage had taken toward the stables.
Indecision gnawed at his gut. He should leave. He should not speak to her, should not make his presence known. She’d be angry with him. She may even hate him for neglecting her, no matter his good intentions.
He stole after her anyway. Her presence was a lure he could not deny. Pressing his back against the chilly stone wall of the stable, he waited.
Her voice was indistinct as she spoke with the stable lad. A light laugh whipped Avery across his chest. She sounded so happy, so free. He looked downward, to where his hands were fisted in front of him. He should stay away. Her life was better without him.
“Avery?”
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Reflexively he brought his fists upward into a fighting
stance, dropping them a split second later when he realized that Leah was looking straight at him, a delicate white lace fan in her hands.
He stood straight and cleared his throat.
“Yes,” he said, frantically searching his brain for an appropriate reason for his presence. “Miss Ramsey.
Good evening.”
Her fan thwacked across his arm. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I beg your pardon?”
She gripped him by the hand and dragged him farther into the shadows. He tried to ignore her closeness, but the scent and heat of her body wrapped around him.
When she turned to him, fire in her eyes, it was all he could do to prevent kissing her.
“I have been waiting to hear from you for two freaking weeks.” She punctuated her statement with a finger to his chest. “I thought you’d died or something. Where the crap have you been?”
He caught her hand against his chest, pressing it to his thumping heart. “I have been closer than you know.”
She delivered a soft kick to his shin. He grunted as she connected with a still-healing bruise. “What, are you stalking me now? Because that’s not sexy at all, even if you were a sparkly vampire.”
He shook his head in confusion.
She rolled her eyes. “Never mind. But seriously, I’ve missed you.”
“I have missed you as well,” he whispered, and bent his head to hers. She jerked sideways, avoiding his kiss, and disappointment flooded him.
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“No way,” she said. “No kissing until we’ve talked some things through.”
A noise from behind him grabbed his attention, and he pressed a finger to Leah’s lips. Together they watched as the stable hands left for their quarters, apparently having finished their duties for the evening.
“Come here,” Leah whispered, and led him into the warmth of the stables.
The heavy scents of horseflesh, leather, and straw perfumed the air. Avery lit the lamp by the doorway, and together he and Leah made their way to an empty stall near the back of the stables.
The lamp’s metal hook rasped as he hung it above the stall door. Words ran rampant through his brain as he rehearsed them silently. He must remember all the reasons that he and Miss Ramsey could not be together.
Never mind Prachett. He’d been careless before. He could have left her with child, after all. There was nothing he could give her, no provisions could he make to ensure her happiness and well-being. Their encounter had been a mistake. They had no future together, and he must convince her of that.
But when he turned and saw her there, pale-blue gown seeming to make her skin glow in the lamplight, all his carefully chosen words dissipated.