Page 28 of Wager on Love

“Oh, that was marvelous.” she exclaimed delightedly. “I have not had a good gallop inweeks. There is nothing in the world so liberating, is there? We might as well be flying.”

“You know, galloping is frowned upon in Hyde Park?” Sir John said, attempting to sound stern, which was difficult when he found himself so enchanted by her. Her color was high and her hair was in even greater disarray. She was exquisite. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.

“I was told such action was forbidden, several times in no uncertain terms.” Charlotte replied. John was taken aback by her words, thinking she had somehow read his thoughts, before he belatedly realized she had been referring to their reckless gallop. “And here comes our poor distressed groom,” Lady Charlotte continued. “I suppose he thought as you did, that I had lost control of my mount.”

“It is a reasonable enough assumption, considering that galloping like that is unconventional behavior, to say the least.” Sir John commented.

Lady Charlotte giggled. “Oh, I know. I am perfectly scandalous.” Her eyes sparkled in delight. “But in my defense, I did not start the run apurpose. I simply did notstopit as soon as I might have done.”

“Be honest,” Sir John pressed, with a teasing smile. “I believe that you encouraged it.”

“I suppose I did. But imagine, being a poor horse trapped in the city. Always having to go at a nice, respectable pace when you are all the time just longing to run wild and free, to behave as your very nature dictates.” She patted her horse fondly. “You enjoyed that too, Jamari. Didn’t you?” she said.

The horse, now excited by the run, tossed his head and pranced sideways, crowding John’s own mount. He got a heavenly whiff of the lady’s perfume as she moved near. He wanted to drown in the scent of her. John felt half wild himself. Charlotte pulled up her mount and held him expertly in check, reminding Sir John to rein in his own desires.

She giggled again and Sir John thought his heart would burst at the sound. The lady was as wild as the horse she rode upon and he found it left a fire in his blood that grew every moment spent within her company. Her bonnet had slipped completely and the curls were rampant now.

He loved the disheveled way she looked. He thought how much more disheveled he could make her and at the same time, he wanted to smooth back her golden curls. His hands itched to touch her, to pull the stern jockey bonnet from her head and bury his hands and his face within her hair. He shifted uncomfortably in the saddle.

“Lady Charlotte, you may convert me to your way of thinking. What a dangerous sort of creature you are?” His voice was low and when Charlotte met his gaze a crackling flame seemed to erupt within her core. She felt even more flushed than she did from the ride. Her heart raced faster than the horse’s hooves, beating a fast tattoo within her breast.

Sir John cleared his throat again before continuing, hoping to regain some sense of propriety. “Shall we return before I join you in another impromptu race and we reduce your groom to tears?”

“Only if you will admit that you enjoyed the gallop every bit as much as I,” Charlotte teased, looking up at him, her amber eyes aglow with mischief and excitement.Did she even know what she did to him?His sudden state of arousal was in no way appropriate to their current environs.

“I confess, that I did,” John murmured, feeling lost in her nearness.

Others began to move closer to them to comment about the horse’s mad rush and ask after Charlotte’s well-being, but Sir John could not answer them. The rest of the world seemed unimportant. He was mesmerized by the woman before him.

Her sparkling eyes drew him like a moth to a flame. He very much wanted to lift her from her saddle, take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He could imagine her breathy sighs and the feel of her soft lips beneath his own. It was only the belated arrival of what seemed to be the entire company of Hyde Park and the distressed groom that tore him unwillingly away from Lady Charlotte’s gaze; breaking the spell.

* * *

13

Sir John paced his apartments. He had delivered Charlotte safely back to her family’s stately London residence, where she had cheerfully told her family the entire tale of their adventure. Hours had passed and yet he could not settle himself. The creditors were dogging him again and he had only just managed to avoid one outside his apartments. The proprietor of the establishment told him another had been asking for him. He waved the man away saying he would take care of it. He would eventually.

The vultures were endless, but soon he would have a solution. He should be glad, but he was not. Still, he could hardly say what had disturbed him. His plan to correct the matter was working even better than he could have predicted. Lady Charlotte showed every sign of falling in love with him, and believing that he was in love with her. Her family seemed to approve of his suit, and even sympathized with him for being caught up in her reckless gallop, which Lord Keegain had assured him was hardly a surprise to anyone who knew Lady Charlotte.

Lady Charlotte was beautiful, wealthy, charming, clever, and Sir John was reasonably certain that when it came time for a marriage proposal, she would accept. In a short time, his financial woes would be solved, and he would have the additional satisfaction of winning the wager with his closest friends. Everything was going exactly according to plan. Why then, he wondered, did he feel so agitated? He ought to be feeling triumphant just then, perhaps even a little smug. Instead, he was swamped with unfamiliar feelings of unease and could hardly begin to congratulate himself as he ought to have done.

He had not expected Lady Charlotte to be so engaging. She was intelligent and wild and thoroughly wonderful. Living with her as his wife would be a delight. Which was a good thing, he reminded himself. He had not expected the force of his desire for the woman, but again, was it not a good thing to desire one’s wife? It made the begetting of heirs less bothersome. That thought sent a wave of fire through him. No. It would certainly not be bothersome to bed Lady Charlotte. There was only one thing that burned more than his desire: the shame he felt at deceiving her.

His rooms felt entirely too confining just then, so he took himself out to walk the twilight streets, which were always bustling with energy and interest. He intended to distract himself from his own thoughts, at least for a time.

“Ashbrooke?” A sudden voice called out. “You cannot have received my note so quickly. I only sent it a few minutes ago.” Sir John looked up to see Lord Henderson near the entrance of a dining establishment across the street. He crossed quickly to his friend, glad for the additional diversion.

“I never saw any note, I just felt like having a stroll this evening and wandered this way by chance,” Sir John said.

“Well, it is quite fortunate, really. I meant to see if you wanted to dine with me tonight. I was thinking how I shall miss our carefree bachelor times together once you have succeeded in catching your fair maiden and are remade a steady, married man.”

“Yes, it is only a matter of time,” Sir John agreed, unconsciously tugging at the knot of his cravat.

“Feeling a bit trapped, then?” Lord Henderson wondered, as the two men entered the establishment and were shown quickly to a table.

“It is not that… exactly,” Ashbrooke sighed. “I can hardly say what has me feeling so disturbed just now, for I do not know the reason myself.”

“It cannot be that you are afraid of failing to win the heart of the lovely lady. I hear tell from several sources that she has barely paid any mind to her other suitors.”

---