grass.
Lord Crenshaw wagered a guinea that none of the ladies would be willing to pick up either Molly or Roxie after the race ended. Where had he been when Beatrice had turned Molly around, Jess wondered.
Beatrice promptly accepted as did Cecilia and Nora Kendrick. Then Beatrice spent a hilarious minute chasing the elusive Molly. Finally, breathless, her hair tumbling down her back, she nabbed the hen and returned her to the cage. They both received a reward. Molly’s was edible.
Jess had no idea why such a wave of longing washed through him as he watched her. There was something about her that drew him in, and he was just as charmed by her laughter as he was by the way she sobered and quietly handed her guinea to the keeper. All the while she seemed completely unconcerned about her mussed hair and blotchy cheeks.
The last wager was from Lord Belmont. He insisted that Roxie would make it back to the cage in record time to try to claim her part of the prize. Several accepted and Belmont had to pay up when Roxie fell off the edge of the ha-ha, tumbling three feet down, stunned but apparently unharmed.
Roxie’s indignant squawks left everyone laughing. The keeper fetched her and Jess hoped that the fall would not mean Roxie went to the stewing pot while still so young.
Jess watched Beatrice as she tried juggling her coins according to Des’s instructions. She pressed her lips together and concentrated with a determination that made him aware of exactly how intense this woman could be. Before he could censor his thoughts, he imagined that same intensity in bed and groaned as his body responded to the fantasy.
Roxie’s state of health was the least of his worries.
Slowly the group made its way back to the house. Jess did not wait for Beatrice, but at some point she abandoned her attempts to juggle and walk at the same time and caught up with him.
When she reached his side, she stopped and put her hand on a giant beech, as though she still needed to catch her breath.
“Do not even mention this to Lord Destry, or Cecilia, come to think of it, but that was much more fun than last night’s experience. Does that mean I would prefer wagering on horse races to games at table?”
“I think you make the most of any opportunity life puts before you. Your curiosity is one of your greatest gifts.” He did not mean to sound as serious as he did.
“How kind of you to say so.” Her expression showed some surprise. “Mama said it was one of my greatest faults. She did not see it as curiosity but called it my inability to accept life as it is without questioning everything.”
Her cheeks were pink now; the blotchy look had faded. She had smoothed her hair at some point but it still spilled down her back, making him wonder why women felt compelled to pin it up. Ah, he realized, women didn’t, but ladies did.
And he knew why. He knew. Right now she was everything he had ever wanted in a woman and completely irresistible.
“Mothers surely see things differently than gentlemen.” Lovers was what he wanted to say and stopped the word just in time. “Mothers want to protect their chicks, do they not? Gentlemen love the idea of a curious young lady, which I do believe we proved earlier today.”
“I suppose we did, but you see, the problem with a kiss like that is it only makes me more curious.”
“It cannot happen again, you do understand that?” he insisted.
She nodded, a hand on her mouth as though holding something back. What did it say about how little he understood her that he did not know if it was laughter, tears, or curses?
When Beatrice did not move, he did, heading toward the river with the aim of spending some time in, or at least very near, cold water, because he knew exactly what she had not said. She might understand but it did not mean she would obey.
BEATRICE WALKED SLOWLY back to the house. Her heart was pounding as though the kiss against the tree had just happened. Yes, his kisses had been her first but she could not imagine any other man’s kiss inciting more passion. Her body was awakened in ways that were unfamiliar and shocking.
She wished Jess had not stopped, but was relieved that he had. Still, she wondered when they could find a quiet spot and kiss again.
It