Page 43 of A Sight to Behold
“My sister and I were supposed to order my birthday cake.”
“When is your birthday?” Pippa felt her eyes widen with surprise.
“Tomorrow.”
“Your birthday is tomorrow?” Pippa asked in shock.
“Yes, this Sunday.”
“I didn’t think to ask. I’m so sorry.” She turned and knocked on the roof to get the driver’s attention, signaling him that he could leave. As the carriage made its way down the path, they watched. “I interfered with your birthday plans. Oh, I’m so sorry.”
But Nick hopped over to her bench and took her hand. Then he interlaced his fingers with hers. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be on my birthday than with you, wherever you’ll take me.”
He seemed to speak the truth, for his sincere boyish gaze made him look mischievous and yet vulnerable at once.
Pippa slumped.
No, she melted.
Looking down at his large but soft hands, muscular with a few veins surfacing, what else could she do? His fingers werelonger than hers, but the way he spread her fingers and fit his palm against hers was most pleasing. He brought his other hand over and laid it on top.
“Why are you so concerned about my plans?”
“Because of something my nemesis said.”
“Your nemesis? You have enemies?”
“Many.” She immediately regretted speaking the truth, for he might shy away from a girl with as many enemies as she had.
“I don’t believe it.”
“Nobody likes me very much. Sometimes, I don’t even think my father does. Bea does like me. Most of the time, it’s just the two of us.”
“Your father doesn’t… I cannot imagine—”
“Oh, he hates me. He says I’m his clumsy goose, and he won’t ever be rid of me.”
Nick’s head jerked back. “He calls you that?” Pippa nodded and frowned. She wished she hadn’t told him, but speaking with him was easy. “Why?” Nick sounded puzzled.
“Because I’m too tall for most eligible bachelors or too chatty or clumsy. So, he’s stuck with me, the clumsy goose. And if he’s stuck with me, he can’t get my money.”
Nick blinked a few times. “I don’t understand.”
Pooh, she shouldn’t have said any of it. She well known among the Ton for her potential to inherit and still, no eligible bachelor with a title had offered for her. Thus, her father profited handsomely from being the trustee for her grandfather’s will, or a part of it at least. Pippa knew no way out and feared that Bea would marry one day, and that she’d be all alone, unable to experience love, or benefit from the fortune her grandfather had left in her name despite the condition of marriage.
“First of all, you’re not too tall. You’re the exact perfect height for me to kiss you.” He gave her a peck on the tip of her nose and then waited. Heat rose to her cheeks.
Nick was different, he didn’t care about the Ton’s opinion or her reputation. He saw her as a person. He smiled. “And there are a few things men like to do with long slender legs that I mustn’t say aloud.” Pippa looked away bashfully but didn’t manage not to smile back at his playful grin.Had he imagined her legs?“You’re not too chatty either. When you speak, you share your feelings and thoughts—all of which I find rather brilliant. You’re stunningly beautiful, Pippa. And you’re not clumsy, not with glasses now, are you?”
She shook her head, her face burning from his compliments.
“Good. Then your father is wrong.” Nick paused and swallowed. She saw his Adam’s apple bobbing and he seemed to have lost his humor for a second. “Will he think that I’m abducting his daughter? It may not be so healthy for me to get in the line of fire for a peer of the Realm.” Nick looked down at their intertwined hands.
“He wouldn’t notice if I were gone a few days.”
“Days?” Nick asked, alarmed at first, but then a mischievous smile washed over him before it melted away in the heat of their clandestine and forbidden escape from Town.
“I wanted you for myself,” Pippa admitted. “But your sister will notice.”
