purpose or not, but the touch sent tingles down her arm.
He leaned into her and, in the process, tipped her hat up. Before she could react, he angled his head and brought his mouth near her ear. His breath was warm and caressed her neck so exquisitely she bit her lip to keep from gasping. When his lips pressed against the hollow part of her ear, she couldn’t prevent a soft cry of pleasure from escaping.
He pulled back and straightened in his seat.
Embarrassment coursed through her at her reaction to him.
He glanced at the older woman, whose mouth now hung open. “Lover’s quarrel. But we’ve made up.”
Then he smiled so innocently and beautifully that the woman’s pale face began to color under his charm. She closed her mouth and fumbled at the clasp of the bag sitting at her feet. She dug inside and retrieved two knitting needles attached to a skein of black yarn. She plopped it onto her lap and began to knit with rapid clicks.
Victoria couldn’t move, could hardly breathe.
When Tom leaned into her ear again, her lungs constricted in anticipation of his touch. The tip of his nose brushed a curl dangling by her cheek and his lips grazed her ear, sending a tremor through her. “Is my acting good enough now?” His whisper was barely audible.
She could only nod, afraid her voice might come out too squeaky or breathless. He was a very good actor. For a brief moment she half-wished he wasn’t pretending, that he really meant every touch and caress. But as soon as the wish came, she was mortified with herself for so easily forgetting about Nathaniel.
Nathaniel. By now Father would have delivered her letter. The one she’d written last night after she’d sent her maids away. What had started as a simple goodbye had turned into so much more. Even now, she cringed at all she’d written and prayed she hadn’t made a huge mistake. She’d told Nathaniel she needed to break off their engagement, at least for the duration of their separation. She’d assured him she loved him, but that she needed time apart to test whether she was really ready for marriage. Quite honestly, she didn’t know if the month of separation would be long enough to determine her feelings.
In the meantime, she wasn’t being fair to ask him to wait for her, and she’d given him the freedom to move on, if that’s what he wanted to do. She supposed now that she was legally married to Tom, breaking off the engagement was the right thing, at least temporarily. After all, who’d ever heard of an engaged married woman?
Even though she’d broken her engagement, she hadn’t planned on forgetting about Nathaniel. Especially so easily.
She squirmed on the bench, but that only made her aware of Tom’s thigh pressed against hers. While he sat so nonchalant and seemingly unaffected by her nearness, she wasn’t sure how she could endure the rest of the steamer ride in such close proximity to him.
At a popping on the deck overhead, the muscles in his arm rippled against her shoulder. He glanced toward the stairway that led to the upper deck. The seriousness in his eyes told her that he was worried about her safety.
He stretched his arms casually above his head and then stood. “I need fresh air.”
She nodded, still too flustered to speak.
He took a step away but stopped and brushed her shoulder as though he had every right to caress her whenever he wanted. “Stay here.”
She nodded again.
He disappeared up the stairs, and after he was gone, she felt strangely alone. She hadn’t been without him at her side in public for the last month. He’d never been more than several feet away. If a man had dared to abduct her with her bodyguard standing beside her carriage door, what might someone attempt with him well out of sight?
Her attention shifted to a man in a shabby suit several benches away. He’d pulled out a pocket watch and was staring at it with tired, glassy eyes. Then her gaze darted to one of the other men, who was lying down on his bench, his hat covering his face, his chest rising and falling with slumber.
Her mind told her that Tom wouldn’t have left her alone if he hadn’t already assessed every person in the room and deemed her safe. He’d probably guessed each person’s occupation, place of residence, and reason for traveling. If anyone had been the least threat, he