Page 36 of The Lady and the Footballer
“Not at all.”
“I gave you my address?”
She recited it back to him, and he nodded, impressed, before reluctantly pushing away.
“I’ll go downstairs and out the back door first,” he said. “You follow behind me, just in case. I’ll wait for you outside and then see you home safely.”
“You do not need to do that,” she protested, but he was already shaking his head, having anticipated her reaction.
“Of course I don’t have to,” he said. “I want to.”
“Very well,” she agreed, dipping her head, but not in enough time to hide the small smile. So, she liked to be protected. Interesting.
He descended the stairs first, avoiding anyone on his way down, before doing as he said and waiting outside in the damp alley. She joined him a couple of minutes later.
“Did anyone see you?”
“No.” She shook her head.
As they walked down the alley, he naturally lifted his elbow, and she slipped her arm through it. He would like to tell himself that he was doing so to keep her safe and balanced, but the truth was, he enjoyed having her next to him as if she belonged there. He couldn’t stop his mind from returning to the moment in the hall when she had lifted her face to him, her expression telling him that she was waiting for him to take action, to show him that he wanted more from her.
Which he most certaily would enjoy. But he couldn’t do what she had been asking of him. She was not his and never could be. To give either of them any hope would only set them both up for disappointment.
“How far do you live from here?” he asked.
“About three miles,” she said. “In Ellesmere Park.”
“Ellesmere Park,” he murmured. “Can’t say I’ve ever been there.”
The neighborhood was more recently developed, holding grand homes and gardens for the wealthy.
He didn’t know anyone who could ever afford to live there.
Until now.
He would have walked the three miles if he were alone, but he wouldn’t make Lily do so.
“We’ll hire a hackney,” he said as they reached the square where one could be found.
“I can go on my own from here.”
As he flagged down a driver and helped her in, he settled in the seat across from her so he wouldn’t be too temptingly close and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“Do you know all of the hazards that could befall you between here and there?” he said. “I would never allow my sisters to travel such a distance alone.”
“I believe I am slightly older than your sisters,” she said wryly, and he nodded slowly. Of course he didn’t see her as anything close to a sister, but he liked to think that someone would watch out for them as he was for her.
“Still,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “I couldn’t sleep well not knowing whether you had made it safely home. So let me do this for myself, if not for you.”
“Very well,” she acceded before they lapsed into companionable silence for the rest of the way.
The truth was, there was so much that Colin wanted to say to her, and none of it had anything to do with the football club business.
But to ask her all he’d like to know about her, to tell her all he wanted to share with her, would only bring them closer together, which was directly opposed to what he was trying to do – keep distance between them, except for a professional manner.
“You play your first Cup match soon, do you not?” she asked, breaking the silence, and he nodded before he realized that she likely couldn’t see him well in the dark.
“Yes,” he said. “We’re playing Notts County.”
