Page 25 of Lady of Fortune
“I am still listening to you, I promise,” she said with her eyes closed. “My eyes are just a little tired and I am simply enjoying the beautiful scent of the meadow and the feel of the wind over my face. Somehow everything feels so much more… alive when you close your eyes, does it not?”
Eddie nodded until he realized that of course she could not see him, and he cleared his throat.
“It does,” he said, though when he looked at her, he couldn’t help but compare the beautiful bonnet she had casually tossed aside with the cap he held in his fingers, nor her dress, so exquisite, with his old coat and pants. Granted, he wore these today as he was spending time with the horses, but he would never own anything as brilliant nor as fashionable as she. Another reminder of all that lay between them.
“Eddie?” she asked softly, and he looked down at her.
“Yes?”
“When we parted all those years ago, did you ever think we would see one another again?”
“I’m not sure,” he answered truthfully. “I suppose I hoped we would, as it would mean that I had achieved what I desired, becoming a jockey, and I knew you would always be a part of this world.”
“How annoying was I as a girl?” she asked now, her lips curling into the slightest of smiles.
“Not overly,” he said with a bit of laughter. “Though I’m sure your brothers would disagree. But teaching you to ride was actually a joy. You are the best student a man could ask for. Attentive, eager, and you listen. Perhaps that’s why I agreed to help you now.”
She propped herself up on her elbows and opened her eyes, their cornflower blue peering up into his face.
“Is that the only reason?” she asked in a whisper, and his heart ached as he knew what she wanted him to say, could sense what she needed from him. And yet how could he tell her the truth, that he had a weakness for her that he could never seem to deny himself?
“I…” he swallowed hard, leaning slightly toward her, and was about to continue the sentence, but found the words caught in his throat.
He didn’t know who moved first, but it was as if some unknown force suddenly drew them together. Within mere seconds they were both sitting up in the long grass and her lips were under his, as soft and as sweet as he knew they would be. As her arms came around him, he lifted her so that she was sitting on his lap and wrapped one hand around the back of her head, interlacing his fingers within her soft curls.
Kissing her seemed almost as though he was within a dream. Never before had he known a woman who was so sweet, yet also had such power within her. He could feel the strength in her arms, and the pressure of those lips upon his.
He intended to keep this kiss as innocent as she was, but the next thing he knew their lips were parted and he was tasting her, learning the softness of her mouth. He felt like a man who was drowning in pleasure more intense than he had ever known to be possible. He wished this had never begun, for now that it had, he didn’t know how he could stop it, nor how he could spend another day without knowing her like this again.
And then Boomerang whinnied, and Eddie was reminded that fantasy was all that this could be — that this could never reoccur. It would have to remain the dream that it had seemed.
Though he knew, deep within himself, that his life would never be the same again.
CHAPTER13
It had been a rather silent walk home. Eddie had insisted on accompanying Julia back to her family’s manor, telling her that she should never have been out walking alone as it was. She nodded, knowing he was right and yet happy that she had done so.
Her heart had never beat so fast before — well, perhaps during the Craven Stakes, but that would be the only experience she could ever compare to her kiss with Eddie. If she was ever forced to answer the question of which of them had moved toward the other first, she would have no idea how to answer. For it was as though they had been pulled together by some unknown compulsion, that they had always been destined to fit together like this. Though now she felt a bit shy. She wasn’t sure how to continue talking to him about anything other than what had just happened, yet at the same time the thought of speaking of their kiss frightened her beyond measure.
And it was not as though he seemed particularly interested in discussing it. So she simply let it be. When they had neared her home, he had told her to find some time to nap and then he bid her farewell. Now she was in a frenzy with a need to share all that had happened withsomeone, and she penned a quick note to Elizabeth, asking her to meet tomorrow to share a luncheon together. It was only after the footman had already disappeared with the correspondence that she remembered tomorrow was the day they had arranged the mock race. Ah well. All would be completed by then. Which reminded her that she had not even asked Eddie if all was prepared. She supposed she would just have to show up at the stables ready to race.
* * *
But the nextmorning when she arrived at the Rowley Mile as discussed, she was both disappointed and relieved to find that it was only Eddie — and Finter, who had brought her horse Maximus as they had previously arranged — awaiting her.
“Good morning,” was all Eddie said, though with Finter nearby, it was not as though he could say anything else, now could he? Nothing like,Oh, Julia, I have been unable to think of anything but our kiss last night, and I can hardly wait to take you in my arms again?
She shook her head at the distracting thought and focused on the task at hand.
“Where is everyone?” she asked, and Eddie looked slightly ill.
“Some of the other jockeys became a bit too excited about the prospect of a race,” he explained. “They shared the news beyond who was supposed to know, and now it seems this mock race is going to draw a bit of a crowd. We’re to race on the July track at three o’clock this afternoon.”
“What kind of a crowd are you expecting?” she asked, suddenly concerned. She had just raced in front of a crowd, yes, but she wasn’t sure she was quite prepared to do so once more. She needed a few more days at least.
“We shall see how far word spreads,” he said, then his face broke out into a smile, likely in an attempt to distract her.
“Now, that means one more training session,” he said. “Are you ready?”
