Page 25 of Charming the Accidental Suitor
Again.
But this time he was prepared for it, and he found himself reaching out to help her, his hands gripping her arms to steady her. She stumbled forward a bit, and soon he was clutching her to his chest…
Which was how he found himself holding Miss Felicity McGovern.
In his arms.
In the moonlight.
His lungs stopped working entirely as she laughed up at him. Her hands were pressed to his chest and surely she could feel what her nearness did to him.
But she simply took a step back and performed a funny little curtsy. “Thank you, my lord.”
He tried to say an equally unfazed ‘you’re welcome’ but it came out as an incoherent grunt.
After a moment of silence, her lips quirked up in a mischievous little grin that made her dimples flash. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t invite you inside for tea…”
Oh. Right. He gave his head a little shake as he held up the parchment. “I came to give you this.”
She took it, read it, and cocked her head to the side. “A meeting time and place. How mysterious.”
“Yes, well, I never did get a chance to speak with you about what we know about Everson, nor how much you have learned.”
Ugh. For a man renowned for his charming manners, he sounded like a right prig.
“You sound like my old tutor,” she said.
He huffed. “I do, don’t I?”
His admission delighted her and her grin dazzled him.
He cleared his throat. “Apologies, I’m not accustomed to this sort of rendezvous. I’m not entirely sure what etiquette dictates.”
She feigned shock. “You mean you do not make a habit out of stealing into young ladies’ gardens at midnight?”
“Surprisingly no.”
They shared a smile this time, and the air felt significantly warmer than when he’d first arrived. He gestured to the limb above. “What were you doing up there?”
She hesitated, and for a moment her smile waned. But she recovered quickly. “Enjoying the moonlight and summer breeze. Why were you not shocked to find me here?”
“Because it is an evening filled with moonlight and a summer breeze,” he shot back.
His heart seemed to swell at her delighted laughter.
“Well played,” she murmured.
She leaned against the tree trunk. “Now then.” She held up the parchment. “Shall we exchange information like proper allies?”
No.Everson was the last thing he wished to discuss. But it was why he was here, wasn’t it?
For a little while they passed the time with business. They shared their information, and by the end he was well and truly impressed by how much she’d managed to discover.
“It pays to be notoriously curious,” she said when he said as much. “When you ask pointed questions about topics that are not your concern, no one suspects a thing.”
Her smile was too unapologetic and charming not to share. “Very useful,” he agreed.
But soon enough the conversation shifted. It drifted. Seamlessly and without effort, he found himself following her on a winding conversational path.
