Page 62 of The Lady and the Footballer
“How are you doing?” she asked Joey, who sat with the team, a crutch by his side.
“Better every day,” he said with a head bob. “I was able to return to work for a few hours a day, which helps more than anything.”
“I can understand that,” she murmured, wondering what it would be like to be so dependent on how your body was able to perform, whether on the football pitch or to make a living wage.
“Thank you for asking,” he said with a grin, and she nodded, though she was slightly confused as to why he would believe she wouldn’t care.
“Of course,” she said.
As the night wore on and the men became more accustomed to her presence, Lily began to enjoy herself – tenfold more than she ever would have at an event of her mother’s choosing.
She could understand why others would be envious of her lot in life. She had the luxury of sleeping to an hour of her choosing the next day, of having her every need met at the ring of a bell, of not having to worry about paying bills, buying food, or cooking for herself.
But it also wasn’t a life of much satisfaction, and she could see in the true camaraderie these men shared, the gratitude they had for the company, the club, and even the ale on the table before them, that everything they did held meaning.
And, for that, she was jealous.
Finally, the night began to wind down, and the men trickled out with a fond farewell to her as they left. Soon enough, Mr. Lockwood stood beside them with concern on his face.
“I will see you safely home, Miss Evans,” he said, but Colin was standing between them before Lily could get a word out.
“I’ve got her,” he said, and Lily leaned around him to see Mr. Lockwood shaking his head.
“You’re putting yourself in a bad position, Colin,” he murmured grimly. “Ask yourself if this is worth it.”
“I know,” Colin said softly. “Thank you, Rhys.”
As Mr. Lockwood walked away without a backward glance, Lily stepped around Colin to look up at him.
“I know what he is telling you, Colin, and he’s not wrong,” she said softly, her eyes searching his. “See me to a hack, and I will find my way home.”
“I will see you all the way home safely. That is a promise,” he said. “No argument.”
“Very well,” she said before looking up at him and biting her lip. She wasn’t sure if she should ask it. But from how he reachedtoward her, allowing his fingers to brush hers, she also knew that he wasn’t oblivious to this charge between them, that she wasn’t the only one who felt something more than a friendship or a connection between two people with a shared purpose. “Do you… do you truly want me to go home?”
Her voice became so low and breathy that it was a wonder he could hear her.
“Honestly?” he said, his brows rising as he looked down at her before taking a seat so their eyeline was closer to one another’s. He reached out and took her hands. “No,” he said fiercely, surprising her. “I do not want you to go home. I do not want you to set foot into that house where your father might marry you off to a man who will never have your best interests at heart, who would spend the rest of his life trying to break your spirit. I want to take you tomyhouse, where I could protect you and make sure that you are never threatened or harmed again.”
He paused, his breath coming just as hard as Lily’s was.
“But I can’t,” he said, his voice nearly breaking. “I have nothing to give you. Nothing of value. Marriage to me would be just as bad as marriage to a man like Lord Nathaniel. OnlyIwouldn’t be the one to break you, but your circumstances would. I don’t know what to do with you, Lily.”
She leaned down, cupping his face. “You have more to give me than any other,” she said softly. “For you are more of a gift than anything or anyone I could ever ask for.”
She didn’t address the rest of it. There was no point. She didn’t have any more answers than he did.
But for now, for tonight, it didn’t matter.
She knew that when their gazes caught and held, no words were necessary as they decided their next course of action together. Her hand slipped into his, and he led them out of the pub.
Only for their night to truly begin.
Even if it was just one night, it would be a memory that would last forever.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Colin couldn’t take Lily to his home, not with his mother and sisters about.
