Page 48 of In Want of a Wife
In the bed they shared.
He was afraid to move, not because of the pain that would inevitably follow, but because he did not want to wreck this moment. They would never share a bed again, and he was all the worse for it.
Lily had a small scar on her chin, and he wished to know where it came from. And he never noticed a pale freckle by her left cheekbone until now. And her lips, so soft and pink and kissable.
None of this was funny anymore. He hadn’t found it hilarious since setting foot in Stonehurst Park.
They would move on. It was one time. And they would be arriving at his family’s home today. Everything would change, and she would never look at him again as she had last night. With complete reverence.
He shut his eyes, took a shallow inhale, then rolled out of bed. If he ever found those two highwaymen, they would live to regret it.
“Rafe?”
Lily reached for him from across the bed.
“Shh, go back to sleep.”
She mumbled something before drifting back off.
Good, it would be easier this way. He dressed quickly, peeking out the window of the small inn overlooking the busy village waking up to start another day. His stomach gurgled, but he didn’t dare eat anything. There was a large knot in his gut, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of what happened last night, or what would happen when they arrived at his family’s home later in the day.
Lily would make an excellent wife, but she would never be his.
He quietly shut the door behind him and journeyed down the small stairwell to the tavern. The innkeeper was picking up a few tables, mumbling to herself until she spotted Rafe.
“Now I know you’re not to be on your feet. Off to bed with you. Where’s your wife?”
Rafe smiled in spite of the way his chest tightened. He swore then that his heart was bruised, and his ribs were fine. “I must speak with the constable. It’s urgent.”
“The incident yesterday? I suppose almost everyone knows what happened. It’s a small village, smaller yet with the festival going on.”
He nodded. Having grown up in a small village himself, he knew the problem well. “Still, where can I find him?”
“At this hour of the day?” She clutched a damp rag in her hands, then yelled for her husband. He shuffled out from the kitchen and waved her off.
“I need to get you a bell,” he mumbled. “The constable will be at the Old Fox, breaking his fast, no doubt. Tell him Richard sent you. My brother can be a right arse to those passing through.”
“Here,” the wife said, shuffling forward with a basket. “Take a scone. You look as if you need one.”
Rafe always did.
“Thank you. I will return shortly. I need to see about having my wife’s telescope returned. It belonged to her late mother.”
“Your brother is going to kill Archie,” the woman said as Rafe turned to leave.
“That’s the problem. He’s afraid to stop his own son.”
Rafe paused on the stone steps as a toad plopped onto the path and hid under the primroses.
The woman continued to her husband as they moved inside, “Love finds us when we least expect it and need it most.”
Rafe supposed that was true, even if he didn’t wish to hear it.
And he didn’t.
In a few days’ time, he would be leaving Lily, and suddenly, he felt as if he were tethered to her. It would be best to continue on and make sure they never shared a bed again.
CHAPTER 9
