How to Turn a Frog into a Prince - Bree Wolf Page 0,70

weak, she could have sworn that Nathanial had never before looked at her quite like this. Not even the night they had danced at the masquerade. The night she had kissed him. The night he had wanted to kiss her.

Longing and desire lay in his eyes. She could feel it in the way he held her, the soft but insistent pressure of his hand on the small of her back. His breath was ragged somehow, and that muscle in his jaw twitched now and again as his gaze bored into hers.

Something wild and untamed lay in his eyes, and yet, Charlaine felt utterly cherished in that moment. Cared for and protected.

Exhaling slowly, Nathanial tucked her dark curl behind her ear. The tips of his fingers brushed her skin, the shell of her ear as well as the soft spot below. Then his hand slid to the back of her neck, urging her closer as his head slowly bent down to hers.

He’s going to kiss me! A voice in Charlaine’s head screamed, and her knees almost buckled at the thought. Or isn’t he?

Charlaine frowned when Nathanial suddenly hesitated, his lips thinning. The longing in his gaze dimmed and was quickly superseded by something else. Something rational. Something—

The stable doors were pushed open in that moment, allowing in the deafening drum of the rain as well as two stable boys.

Instantly, Nathanial released her and stepped back, putting distance between them.

Charlaine felt her heart sink at the sudden disappointment that surged through her. Had she wanted to kiss him this badly? She wondered, barely taking note of the two boys.

“’Tis quite a downpour,” Daniel remarked laughing. “My shirt is almost soaked through.”

Henry joined in before his gaze moved to them. “Ya look no better,” he observed. “Go on inside. We’ll see to the horses.”

“Thank you,” Nathanial told them as they hastened forward to tend to the shivering animals. Then he offered Charlaine his arm. His eyes, however, never quite met hers. “We need to run,” he told her, glancing out at the rain.

Charlaine chuckled despite the disappointment that still clung to her heart. “Why? We’re soaked through as it is. Can it get any worse?”

His gaze swept over her gown, clinging to her skin, before it snapped up, returning to the downpour a few steps in front of them. “On three,” he said, his arm tightening on hers. “One, two, three.”

Then they dashed across the yard and up to the side entrance. Donahue, Markham Hall’s one-armed butler, stood there, booming laughter spilling from his mouth as he held the door open to allow them inside. “You look like drowned rats!” he observed, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

Charlaine grinned at him. “It’s nice to see you as well.”

Mumbling a few rather unintelligible words, Nathanial hastened away, no longer concerned with her now that he knew her to be safe. Indeed, it seemed what had happened in the stables—or what had almost happened—had shaken him even more than her.

Donahue frowned. “Who got his goat?”

Charlaine sighed, then smiled at Donahue and headed to her own chamber. She truly ought to have wrung out her skirts for they were dripping all over the floors. Still, her thoughts lingered elsewhere.

Something had indeed changed between Nathanial and her.

The only question was: for better or for worse?

Chapter Thirty-Two

How to Kiss

Nathanial knew he was a coward.

Still, the moment in the stables had changed everything for him. Before, Charlaine had been his friend, his confidante. He had been able to speak to her without thinking, without choosing his words, without worrying how they would be perceived. Their relationship had been clear, reassuring and simple.

But then a single moment had ruined everything.

He had ruined everything.

What on earth had come over him? Nathanial wondered as he walked rather aimlessly through the grove near the lake. Had he truly been about to kiss her?

Stopping, he closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. He had, hadn’t he? As much as he wanted to deny it, Nathanial knew that it was the truth.

Riding home in the rain with her in his arms, a part of Nathanial had been disappointed when they had finally reached their destination. It had been the strangest thought but, in that moment, he had simply wanted to hold her a little longer. And then she had looked at him with those big, brown eyes of hers. Those eyes that so often seemed to see right to his core. In that moment, though, Nathanial had suddenly felt tense at the thought that Charlaine