Page 85 of Impossible
His gaze snapped to hers. “I wouldn’t do that to Lucien. He would suffer the same consequences as me. More, probably, since he lied.”
A smile curved her lips. “You still care about him, then. I’m pleased to hear it.” She glanced toward the window. “We’re here.”
The coach creaked to a stop, and a moment later, the door opened. Ada swept up his garments, including his hat, and stepped down with Og’s assistance.
Max climbed out and immediately met Og’s still-concerned face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Ada took Max’s arm. “He will be after I tend to him inside.”
Og looked slightly relieved. “Are we still returning to Stonehill day after tomorrow?”
After tonight, Max wasn’t sure of anything. “I’ll let you know. Night, Og.” Max walked toward the club with Ada.
She hesitated. “I don’t want to go in through the club. I know how much you dislike people staring at you, and your lack of clothing along with your bloodied shoulder will attract all manner of interest. Let’s enter on the side, down through the kitchen where I can fetch medical supplies, then we’ll go up to my room.”
Without waiting for his response, she started toward the right of the building, where he’d stolen into the ladies’ side the other night. He followed her down the stairs to the entrance, but before she could open the door, he pulled her away, pinning her back against the outer wall. She held his garments between them.
“I will never understand why what I did tonight didn’t prompt you to run away from me as fast as possible. I nearly hurtyouin my frenzy.” The thought of that brought an agony he’d hoped never to experience again.
She lifted her hand to his cheek. “But you didn’t, and I trust you never will. The fireworks triggered something for you and put you in a terrible place. Then those ruffians accosted me, and you reacted from that place. It was a perfect intersection of awfulness for someone with your…wounds.”
“You think those two things happening together is why I reacted that way?”
“I think it makes sense, and I love for things to make sense.”
He stared at her clever eyes and her pert nose, the strong jut of her chin. She was the most sensible person he’d ever met. “Nothing has made sense for me in years,” he whispered. “Not until you.”
Lowering his head, he kissed her, his mouth covering hers. She slid her hand back to his nape, holding him as she leaned into his embrace.
She kissed him until he was breathless, pulling back and bringing her palm down his throat to tug gently at his cravat. “Let’s go up to my room.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “To clean your wound.”
“All right.” He tried not to sound disappointed.
“And I’ll tell you my story. We’ll see what you think of me then.”
Chapter17
Ada finished tying the bandage that covered Max’s shoulder and angled around his torso under his other arm. He looked like he was wearing a sash.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked as she tidied up, taking the basin of bloody water to a table near the door.
Max sat on a chair in front of the hearth, his head angled as he tried to see her handiwork. “Not really. Thank you.”
Ada went back to him and sat in the other chair. “I suppose you’re waiting for me to tell you about the child.” She hadn’t intended to tell him about it, but after what he’d shared with her, she wanted to, especially if it meant he would let Lucien back in.
“Only if you want to,” he said quietly. “Don’t feel as though you must.”
“But I do. Your rift, or whatever it is with Lucien, troubles me. Friendship sometimes means doing hard things. Such as telling someone they’re being foolish when they absolutely are.”
“Is that what Evie did for you?”
Ada nodded. “Do you remember the lover I mentioned?” At his nod, she went on. “I was pregnant and despondent. I didn’t want to bring a bastard into the world.” Her insides clenched—that was only part of it, and she couldn’t tell him the rest. He would be horrified by her behavior. This much was shameful enough. “As an unwed mother, my choices, which were already slim, would be practically nonexistent. I’d already had to leave my position as governess.”
“He should have married you.”
Jonathan had loved her, but he was married. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Max, knowing how upset he was about his father’s infidelity. Max would never look at her the same way again. “He couldn’t, and there’s no sense being upset with him. It wasmyfoolish behavior.”
“What did you do?”
