The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,12
tone sounded.
He held out a hand to her, and she swallowed hard before she took it. Even though they were each wearing gloves, the spark from making contact with him still rippled through her. She released him as soon as she could, pacing toward the wide field where the driver and groom were spreading out the food packed back at the inn earlier in the day.
She drew a long breath of fresh air.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Rhys asked, motioning her toward the blanket.
She nodded. “We’ve been very lucky with the weather both days. So late in the summer, I might have expected rain.”
They sat on the blanket and everyone began to eat. And though she had expected that she might have to make small talk with Rhys for the hour they paused in their travels, it turned out not to be true. Instead he chatted with the servants, asking after families and laughing at their jokes. She couldn’t help but stare in wonder.
Men of Rhys’s rank were not often so kind to those they considered beneath them. Growing up on the periphery of his world had shown her that over and over again. Servants were not thought of by many a man of title or money.
But this man was different, better in a thousand tiny ways. Kind and friendly, open to differing opinions, deferent to those who had more information or experience, even if they were not as elevated in stature. He apologized for his wrongs, he made amends for those that weren’t even his.
And sitting there, watching him, she felt the stir of those emotions he inspired. Lust, yes. And that one she could have forgiven herself for. He was handsome, after all. Many a woman probably felt a tingling in her loins when he passed by.
The real trouble came from the deeper emotions she felt. Stirrings in her heart that made her want things she most certainly couldn’t have. She and Rhys could be nothing more than acquaintances with a common goal to protect the child for whom they shared responsibility.
She blinked as she pushed to her feet.
“That was a lovely meal,” she said. “I think I shall take a short walk, if that will not slow our progress. I’d like to stretch my legs.”
“It will take us a moment to tidy up from lunch,” Nan said.
“Aye, ma’am, and there will be chores to be done before we carry on the road,” the driver added. “Take your time.”
She nodded, cast one last furtive glance toward the man who inspired such tangled reactions in her and started across the green field. She tried to settle herself by grabbing onto the sensations around her. The way the tall reeds brushed her skirts, the smell of heather, the sound of chirping birds and, when she crested a small hill, the sight of a clear, blue lake reflecting the cloudless sky above.
Water had always been a soothing influence on her. She’d loved the sea the few times she’d been able to visit it. And while this tiny lake was certainly far from the sea, she still moved toward it, hoping the lapping of the small waves on the pebbled shore would help calm her riotous mind.
She reached the edge and stood there, staring out over the expanse. Yes, this was better. A few moments here would do the trick, and then she would be right as rain again.
Except she was not left alone. Behind her she heard a voice on the breeze.
“Phillipa?”
She turned back and found no one there, but after a brief moment Rhys appeared over the rise that blocked the view of the carriage a few hundred yards away. Her heart firmly lodged itself in her throat and she pursed her lips in disgust at how quickly she was back in this place of wicked longing.
“My lord,” she said, and turned her back on him to stare at the lake again. “I did not realize you intended to join me.”
He stopped beside her, at a reasonable distance, but still too close. She could smell the sandalwood goodness of his skin even now.
“I thought your idea of stretching your legs was a good one,” he said. “This is lovely—I had no idea the lake was here or we might have had our picnic on the shore.”
She grunted her response and refused to look in his direction. He was quiet a moment and then he turned to face her. “I didn’t do something to…to offend you, did I?” he asked.