How to Turn a Frog into a Prince - Bree Wolf Page 0,58

arms, righting her before she tumbled into the water.

Looking up, she found Nathanial’s concerned gaze meeting hers. “Are you all right?” he asked before his eyes swept over her as though looking for injuries.

“I’m fine,” Charlaine exclaimed. “Thank you. You saved me.” She glanced down. “But not my hem.” Laughter spilled from her lips as she lifted her dripping skirts out of the water.

Nathanial frowned. “Or my boots.” Water sloshed over the rim, soaking them from the inside out.

“You should take them off,” Charlaine suggested, not for a second believing that he would.

To her utter shock, however, Nathanial nodded. “I suppose I better.” As he stalked back to shore, Charlaine stared after him, watching like a child on Christmas morning as he sat down in the tall grass and then pulled off his boots, poured out the water and then set them aside to dry.

A moment later, Nathanial came wading back into the lake. “What?” he asked as he found her staring at him.

Quickly, Charlaine shook her head. “Nothing.” A part of her worried that if she drew his attention to what he had just done, everything would be ruined.

From then on, Nathanial always removed his boots before going into the lake and, every once in a while, Charlaine caught him sighing contentedly as he wiggled his toes in the fresh grass.

“Mr. Caswell is a very patient man,” Emma remarked one day as they watched Nathanial teach the girls how to bounce a pebble across the lake. “Look how determined they are.”

Seated on a picnic blanket under a large tree, Charlaine and Emma observed the girls’ rather slow progress. “Oh, I believe he enjoys it as well.” She grinned at her friend, setting aside her charcoal drawing of the scene before her. “He simply prefers to pretend otherwise.”

Emma chuckled. “You seem to know him well.” Her gaze narrowed in thought. “May I ask—?”

“We’re friends,” Charlaine rushed to say, surprising herself with her eagerness to clarify their relationship. “I mean, I do care for him, but there’s nothing between us beyond friendship.” She grinned at her friend. “I can see what direction your thoughts are running.”

Emma chuckled. “How can they not?” She frowned, her gaze thoughtful as she looked at her. “Are you certain you’re not hoping for something more?” Once again, she glanced at Nathanial. “He seems quite taken with you.”

Charlaine could not deny that she had never felt more comfortable in a man’s company than she did in Nathanial’s. But…he was her friend, was he not? “When first we met, he made it very clear that he had no interest in any kind of romantic attachment.” She chuckled, remembering his attempts to rid himself of her presence. “He was quite rude, to tell you the truth. It took great effort to break through his defenses.”

Emma frowned. “And yet, you never gave u—”

“He wants a friend,” Charlaine interrupted, knowing where Emma’s thoughts were at. “More than that, he needs a friend. Someone who is open and honest with him. Someone who does not pursue a hidden agenda. He’s been hurt, and he needs to learn to trust again.”

“I think he trusts you.”

Charlaine smiled. “I hope so.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Nature of Men

Upon entering the house, Emma ushered the girls upstairs for a bath before supper. Nathanial grimaced for it seemed, despite his best efforts, some lake water had remained in his boots. The water squished loudly as he walked across the hardwood floor. “I have no idea how this can be,” he remarked, a deepening frown coming to his forehead. “They felt dry when I checked them only a little while ago.”

Charlaine bit her lower lip, trying her best to hide a grin. Still, the second Nathanial looked up at her, incredulity in his eyes, she was lost. She burst out laughing until her sides ached.

Nathanial huffed out an annoyed breath, fixing her with a dark glare. “Oh, you think this is funny?” Then he stilled, his eyes slowly narrowing as he watched her carefully. “Did you have something to do with this?”

Fanning her heated face, Charlaine met his gaze, breathing in slowly, trying to calm enough in order to speak. “Whatever do you mean?” As much as she tried, though, she could not quite keep a grin off her face.

Nathanial rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can see quite well that you were innocent in all of this.”

Charlaine lifted her hands in appeasement. “I did nothing!”

“But it was your idea, wasn’t it?” Nathanial asked, and a part of her loved how well