Page 21 of A Wish Upon an Earl
Jack’s grin was so wide, his cheeks ached a bit.Drew set down the chair with a grunt, and Jack reluctantly settled Sarah into the seat.He’d brought the thing out here to push her, but he found he liked her in his arms a great deal better.“In that case, we must hurry.Hold on!”
She grabbed the arms of the chair, and then Jack gave the chair a heaving push as it rolled over stone and through the manicured grass.They were both laughing, rather louder than was likely necessary, and as Jack ran faster, Aubrey and Drew fell behind, walking arm in arm.
“Did you hear the whoosh of wings?”he asked, as he tipped the chair back a touch so that it only rolled on its larger back wheels.
Sarah looked over her shoulder at him, grasping one of his arms.“Jack.”Her voice had that breathless quality that made his hand clench on the back of the chair.“Dragon or no, don’t let me fall.”
He slowed, leaning down close to her ear.He’d been responsible for two injuries, one to her ankle and one to her heart, but from here on out, her protection was his first priority.Her happiness, his second.“I’d never let anything happen to you.”
Her hand tightened on his forearm as she looked up at him.“Really?”
“Really.”
The garden came into view, and he started to walk.“I think we’ve beaten the dragon.”
A bark followed by another sounded through the night air.“Perhaps.But not the hounds,” Sarah said, her voice taking on an ominous tone.
Jack chuckled.“Not even I can compare your brother’s bulldogs to demon hounds.Two more lovably lazy dogs never existed.”
“Next masquerade, we’ll make them costumes too; they can coordinate with ours.”
Pleasure coursed through him to hear her make future plans for the two of them.It was what he’d hoped.
That made another round of laughter fall from his lips.“What shall we be?”Then he drew in a sharp breath.“I’ve got it; we’ll be a dragon.”
“One?”she asked, her green eyes twinkling in the night.“We’ll share a costume?”
“Precisely.”He stopped then, bending down so that his head was on the same level as hers.
“That is not coordinated, my lord.It’s scandalous.”
“Well, you’ll be the face, of course.You’re too stunning to stuff in the tail.And no one will even see me.”
Her fingers were still on his arm, circling his wrist.“That is a terrible plan.”
“Why?”
“Because.”She huffed, her breath tickling his cheek.“Everyone will wonder who is in that costume with me.I’ll be the talk of the?—”
But she stopped, her mouth clamping shut.
Oh Sarah.He winced.He’d made her retreat into this shell of fear.It was his fault.When she was younger, she never gave a whit what anyone else thought.“Hmm,” he said.“How can we protect your reputation?Let’s think.I could crouch very low so that everyone will think I’m a woman.”
She wrinkled her nose.“With those shoulders?”
A thrill of satisfaction that she’d noticed his shoulders ran down his spine.“My shoulders?”
“The only way I’d ever be safe from that sort of scorn is to be married.We both know that.”
He drew in a long, slow breath.Was this the moment when he should tell her how he felt?When he should share his feelings, his intentions?“Marriage…” He likely shouldn’t.He’d amended that this time would be about her.Not him.Still.If she were broaching the subject…
But the words died on his lips.Because, well, his lips were getting other ideas.He was so close to her, and as her green eyes stared into his, they were drifting closer.What better way to tell her how he felt than to kiss her in the moonlight.But when he was a breath away, a deep voice called out, breaking the bubble around them.“Max!”
Sarah pulled away, her hand dropping from his arm.He grimaced into the darkness, trying to discern who was yelling and why.
Drew and Aubrey joined them, finally having caught up.
“The dogs must have followed,” Sarah said, just as Ash’s two bulldogs emerged from the darkness.“Did you invite Ash along too?”
