The Girl is Not For Christmas - Emma V Leech Page 0,55
first time he’d kissed her. No… she had kissed him. She had kissed him, and so… and so what the devil was she up to now? He moved to a gap in the bushes and saw Livvy, one hand holding onto her bonnet, the wind tugging at her honey-coloured curls as she smiled up into the face of a bloody Adonis. Who the devil was this bastard? And… the strangest sensation filled his chest as he saw her lean in and kiss the man’s cheek. It… hurt. He tried to breathe around the pain of it, but his lungs did not seem to want to cooperate.
He should not be here. He should not be here watching her like… like some blasted….
The Adonis gave a soft chuckle, staring at Livvy with affection. “Ah, I loved you when we was tiddlers, Liv. You know that, and I’d never let ye down.”
“I know, Ross. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ross? So she was on first-name terms with him, was she?
Well, she must be to go about kissing the fellow and meeting him in secret, you imbecile.
“I’ll be there.”
King meant to leave. He really did. None of his business, he told himself. So what if she had told him she needed help and then… and then went and used that help to seduce the local… whatever he was. None of his affair. She was a free woman. Yet no matter what his intentions, or what furious words circled in his mind, his feet were planted and he stayed right where he was.
“Oh, King!” Livvy said as she turned the corner into the garden.
Her cheeks were flushed, her blue eyes bright and full of life and….
“Who is he?”
Oh, marvellous. He had not meant to say that. Now he sounded like a jealous prick.
“W-Who is who?” she asked, all wide-eyed innocence, though he could see she was nervous as hell and clearly did not want to answer the question, the little jade.
“The young Adonis you were just kissing.”
The colour in her cheeks went from a pretty pink flush to a full scarlet burn, and did not make him feel any better.
“Oh,” she said, standing a little taller. “That is our neighbour, Mr Moyles. I… I happened to bump into him on my walk. P-Purely by accident. He… He’s like a brother to me. We used to play together as children, and it’s been an age since I saw him last. It wasn’t a kiss. N-Not… not a kiss.”
“Really?” he said, folding his arms and wondering why the fact she was lying to him hurt quite so badly. They’d made each other no promises. Indeed, she’d told him from the start she had no interest in him. He had no interest in her either. None at all. He had no business giving her the third degree… and yet…. “That’s why you’ve arranged to bump into him again at the same time tomorrow, is it?”
There was no mistaking the anger in his voice now, but Livvy just put her chin up, holding his gaze.
“It is not what you think, King, but either way, it is none of your affair.”
“No. Quite right, but you might at least have been honest with me. Why not say you’d wanted to capture the heart of some local chap, rather than all this nonsense about your aunt’s ball? Though how you think that fellow can save you and your family when he’s clearly not got two pennies to rub together….”
“Oh, King!” she said, glaring at him in fury. “Do stop, you’ve not the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”
With blue eyes flashing, she turned on her heel, and King knew he ought to let her go, but his heart was racing, panic building in his chest at the idea she might… she might… that he might not….
“Then damned well explain it to me, Livvy,” he said, grabbing hold of her arm and tugging her back around. “Explain to me how you can kiss me one day and go to him the next?”
He was overwrought, he knew he was, and he knew full well he sounded like the wronged hero in a bad melodrama, but he was quite unable to stop himself.
“King!” Livvy said, staring up at him, her eyes wide with surprise. “Why on earth do you care?”
“I don’t bloody well know,” he said desperately. “But either way, you’ll get caught, Livvy. You’ll be ruined and… and is he worth it? Will he marry you?”
Her expression softened. “Oh, you’re worried for me.”