Page 25 of In Pursuit of a Christmas Bride
How she knew, he didn’t know. But there was no denying it. Perhaps it was a universal experience to feel that crushing pressure to do as expected.
“What should I call you?”
She gazed down at the ice before darting a glance toward him. “Tilly will do when it’s you and me,” she said, before she pushed off and attempted another go around the pond. “And when we are with everyone else, I am Miss Brennan. But we should strive not to be alone.”
He stood in the middle of the pond beneath the milky cloudy day, clasping his hands in front of him. He was thankful for the wool gloves the footman lent him. He watched her wobble across the ice and flail her arms, and all the while, he had a grin on his face.
It was the strangest thing.
And might have been the longest he had ever caught himself smiling.
Henry did not make a habit of smiling.
“Would you like my help?” he called out.
“Absolutely not.”
It wasn’t the answer he had hoped for, especially as he appraised his exit.
“What, oops. Oh, Zooks!” Tilly flopped down onto her bottom again and burst into laughter. “I won’t be able to sit for a week. Why do others consider this a fun pastime?”
“I asked if you would have liked to join me on a sleigh ride.”
She slowly rose to her feet and struggled to right herself fully. “You can say what you wish right now, my lord, but I see you standing there too afraid to move.”
“I am too busy watching you.”
“No,” she said, waving her hand out. “We will not have any flirting. Not allowed.”
“There are a lot of rules now to have the pleasure of sharing your company.”
“We met during a masquerade where there is mostly none save one. I understand your confusion. Nevertheless.”
“Noted.” He tested his footing, slowly creeping forward. “I will take my leave then. I wish you a pleasant afternoon.”
“Wait,” she said behind him.
Henry jumped, surprised by her nearness, and fell clean onto his arse. He sighed, reclined against the bumpy ice on the pond, and stared up at the clouds slowly drifting across the sky.
Tilly lowered to her knees, then lay on her back, her head next to his. “A sleigh ride would be nice.”
“I promise to be respectable.”
“You are the epitome of respectable, my lord. That is what I like about you.”
She was teasing him again.
“So far you have claimed to know me, wish you didn’t know me, and asked me to leave you alone. I apologize, but I must ask you to be direct with me and tell me if you wish for me to go, or do you wish to join me on a sleigh ride?”
Everything quieted between them. A trio of crows flew across the sky, but there was only the sound of her shallow breathing surrounding him along with his heartbeat drumming in his ears.
“When I walked through the door of Haddington, I thought something horrible must have happened on our journey here because there was no way you could be waiting for me. But you were. And you rushed up to me to ask if I was well and all I could think of at that moment was that you must have hated me for disappearing when I should have found you.”
“Hate is a strong word, Tilly.”
She nodded, wiping at the corner of her eye and turning her face to study his. They were so close yet might as well have been worlds away.
“I feel like I must confess something.” She swallowed. “It’s not that I wish to avoid you, I don’t wish that at all, honestly. It’s only this house party is important for many reasons, one of which is my family. And I don’t wish to complicate things by continuing our flirtation.”
