Page 43 of The Truth Serum
“You shouldn’t be here!”
He held his tongue, reminding himself that he wasn’t the only one who had changed in the last decade. She was different. He couldn’t prattle nonsense and expect her to give in. But he didn’t really know the woman she’d become. He didn’t know how to persuade her to talk to him.
“Five minutes. Please. I just want to see that you’re all right.”
She lifted her hands. “I’m fine! I was fine before! I’m—”
“Are you going to marry him?”
She frowned. “Who? The baron?”
“Has anyone else offered for you?”
“Besides you? No.”
“Then yes, the baron.”
“No.”
That was a relief. “But Fletcher—”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not sure how to manage him. He’s gotten worse.”
How sweet that they could still understand each other in abbreviated sentences. Even so, there was a lot unspoken here, and he wanted details. Just exactly how had Fletcher gotten worse? Was she in danger?
“Let me in, Becca. My ribs are killing me.”
Her gaze dropped to his torso as she quickly backed up. At least she was still tenderhearted. She hated for anyone to be in pain, him included. She helped him inside, and within moments, he set his feet lightly on her floor before sliding the rest of the way inside.
Relief.
The scent of her was everywhere. He smiled as he inhaled deeply.
“Can you breathe?” she pressed. “Without pain? And your feet—how bad are they?”
He smiled. It was good to see she cared. “I’m better now that I’m here.”
“No, you’re not! You’re being very bad.”
His lips quirked as he looked at her. She sounded like his old matron at Eton, but she was far lovelier.
“You used to like me when I was bad,” he teased.
She crossed her arms, and he couldn’t help but appreciate the way her bosom plumped. “Stop looking at me like that! I’m not sixteen anymore. I’m not going to swoon just because you’re being scandalous.”
“You never swooned.”
“I never…” She abruptly cut off her words, her lips pressed tight.
“What?” he pressed. “Don’t hold back. You know I hate that.”
She dropped back into her chair with a heavy sigh. “I never stood up to you either. I never stopped you—” She glared at him. “I never stoppedusfrom being insanely daring. I look back on that girl, and I think, what a fool she was.” She lifted her chin. “So I didn’t swoon, but I might as well have.”
There wasn’t another chair in the room, so he pulled out the footstool and sat upon it. That put her at a higher eye level than him, but he liked looking up at her.
“I remember you very differently,” he said quietly. “You stopped me from so much idiocy. If it weren’t for you, I would have tried swinging from tree to tree like a monkey.”
“You would have fallen to your death.”
