Page 94 of The Trouble with Anna

They hadn’t been riding long before Julian led them away from the narrow streets of Mayfair and onto a wide avenue, the city growing darker as they left the lights of the great houses behind. Julian drew up his mount before the low gray arches that opened into Hyde Park.

“Grosvenor Gate?” Anna asked. “But the park is locked at night.”

Julian shot her a crooked grin. “I’ll send my apologies to the Prince Regent.”

He whistled, and a man came running up to the wrought iron. The gates opened with a groan of metal and Julian rode into the beckoning darkness, pausing for her. “Are you coming?”

Anna clicked her horse into a trot and rode past him. “I hear there are cutpurses after dark!”

His laugh rumbled through her belly. “Don’t sound so excited, my pirate. Was the race not thrill enough today?”

Anna didn’t answer. Her horse’s ears had pricked up, and her senses pricked with them, eyes alert to the blackness around them, her face tingling in the cold. A ribbon of light in the distance drew her attention.

“What’s that?”

“Rotten Row.”

Anna rode toward it as if pulled by a string. She’d been there before, of course—it was fashionable to ride there most afternoons. But in the bustle of the day, it was easy to forget that the Row was built to be the King’s road to Kensington Palace. At night it glowed, lit by three hundred gas lanterns, the first illuminated road in all of England. The lanterns flickered ahead, creating a tunnel of gold against the dark. She brought her horse to a stop at the edge of the light.

Julian drew up beside her. “Shall we ride?”

The pair clicked their horses on, and together they ran. The wind pushed back her hood and yanked on his muffler. The cold slapped her cheeks red and turned his laughter to smoke. They ran and ran, and only when the road ended at the edge of Kensington Gardens did they pull up in the circle of light under the last lamp.

Julian dismounted and lifted her down, his hands lingering on her waist. “My god, I was proud of you today. I thought I would die of pride.”

“Yet you disappeared,” Anna said quietly.

“Mm. So you missed me.”

“I did not!” she denied, then swallowed. He’d splayed her heart open, there was no room for deception anymore. “That’s not true. I missed you terribly.”

Julian ran his thumb down her cheek. “It was your night, lightning. I wanted you to have it all to yourself.”

Anna breathed, falling toward him. Everything was heightened, the cold, the earthiness of the fallen leaves, the warmth pouring off his body. She gripped her courage hard.

“Why have you brought me here, Julian? What’s this all about?”

Anna’s heart stopped beating as he lowered his mouth to drop a single word in her ear.

“Money.”

She reared back. “Money!”

“Yes, my magpie.” He laughed and held her tight as she tried to jerk herself out of his arms. “Have you collected enough, I wonder? You and Charlotte have skulked across ballrooms for weeks now. I assume you’ve reached your goal at last, given what you must have won today.”

“B-but, but—”

His lips curved. “But what, my criminal? You thought I didn’t know? You thought you could run London’s most notorious gambling racket and catch me sleeping?” She pressed her lips together and he pulled her hard against his chest again, laughing. “Don’t glare at me so. Not when my own finish post is in sight at last.”

Anna pushed against him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

He pressed a kiss against her neck. “Yes, you do. You and Charlotte must have cleared five thousand pounds by now.”

“Each!” she flung at him.

“Each!” he agreed. “Even better than I imagined. But is it enough?”

“Enough for what?”

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