Page 22 of An Earl’s Christmas Temptation

He struggled to stop himself from grinning when he saw how his compliment made her beam. It was made even more difficult still by the rosiness that appeared in her cheeks, though Gabriel assured himself that it had far more to do with the chill in the air than his compliment.

Instinctively, he held out his hand and properly greet her and was surprised when she almost immediately placed her gloved palm into his. Gabriel still felt an odd spark of sensation run through his lips as he bent to kiss her knuckles.

He had barely raised back to his full height, releasing Miss Julia’s hand, when Miss Chelsea insisted, “Oh, Julia, you must join us. I was going to take Lord Sutthers and Lord Tatford up to our favourite hill to show them the view!”

At her friend’s words, Miss Julia’s eyes lit up and she turned to her to say, “I would be honoured.” Then she turned to Gabriel and his brother and added, “If the gentlemen are happy for me to join?”

“We would be pleased for the company,” Jonathan insisted before Gabriel could even open his mouth or begin to think of a response. The earl was quickly able to recover himself, offering Miss Julia his arm.

“I would be happy to escort you, miss,” he said with a smile. The way she smiled back at him warmed his heart and made his stomach flutter in a way he had not felt since he was very young and excitable.

“Shall we?” Jonathan suggested, offering his arm once more to Chelsea. Together, the foursome continued through the park with the two young women’s maids bringing up the rear to ensure that nothing untoward was taking place.

As he and Miss Julia walked a few steps behind his brother and her friend, they talked about anything and everything, their love of literature and their favourite authors, their love of nature and the different seasons, their distaste for silly gossip and all manner of other things.

It was remarkable just how much they had in common, and with every moment Gabriel found himself more and more in awe of the beautiful woman on his arm. He gazed at her intently as they walked, so interested in her that he almost did not notice when the first flakes of snow started to fall from the clouds.

“Oh, isn’t it beautiful?” Miss Julia commented as they made it halfway up the hill that Miss Chelsea had mentioned, leaving their maids at the bottom when Miss Chelsea had insisted that the two women need not waste their legs simply to follow them. A single glance back down the hill told Gabriel that the two young women were still sitting on the bench where they had left them. Their gazes were turned to the sky in awe of the snow.

“It most certainly is,” Gabriel responded, though in truth his comment had far more to do with his company than his surroundings.

By the time they made it to the top of the hill, a thick layer of snow had coated the ground at their feet and the temperature had dropped so dramatically that Gabriel instinctively moved closer to Miss Julia, hoping to offer her a little of his own body heat when he felt her shivering and heard her teeth beginning to chatter.

“Oh, Miss Chelsea, look over here!” Jonathan insisted and Gabriel was more than a little relieved when his brother distracted the young woman, guiding her a little way back down the hill to something he had found on a nearby bush. Gabriel had to admit that the red berries of the holly bush were quite magnificent against the snow and it appeared that Miss Chelsea agreed.

He quickly removed his attention from his brother and his companion and turned to his own as she gazed out over the landscape that stretched out before them in rolling lawns and gardens before turning into the streets of London that were beginning to light up with lantern light as the light began to fade due to the heavy snow clouds.

“Isn’t it spectacular?” Miss Julia asked.

“Yes, quite,” Gabriel agreed. “I don’t think I have ever seen London like this before.”

Miss Julia turned up her face to look at him, a proud and happy smile spread across her lips. “I am glad that you find London pleasing.”

“I think perhaps that is thanks to you, Miss Julia,” he admitted and his breath caught in his throat when she fully turned to look at him, body and all. Her closeness was intoxicating, and he found himself blurting, “I do believe you are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes upon.”

“Truly?” she responded in a gasp that was little more than a whisper, and it was clear to see the shock upon her face. Though she sounded disbelieving, her body was much more accepting and she leaned into him, making it all the harder for him not to do the same.

Unable to stop himself, he stepped toward her. Slipping one hand into hers, he placed his free hand beneath her chin and in an instant, his lips were upon hers.

In a flurry of snow kicked up by a sudden breeze, Gabriel and Julia found themselves lost to the world, enveloped in each other’s arms, their lips pressed together in such a sweet and passionate kiss that the earl knew he would never forget such a moment. The most surreal feeling washed over Gabriel and in a flash, he felt as though all the pain and suffering he had endured since arriving in London was worth it.

Unable to remember the last time he had felt truly happy, Gabriel was almost floored by the sensation. When their kiss finally broke and they pulled away from each other, Miss Julia looked almost as stunned as he was feeling. He could feel the heat rising in his own cheeks and hoped she would assume it was merely the chill that had caused it to do so.

“Are the two of you coming?” Jonathan’s call from a little farther down the hill made them both almost jump out of their skin and Miss Julia looked almost as embarrassed as he felt as they stepped away from each other. “It is growing much too cold and snowy for my liking!”

“Yes,” Miss Julia agreed, “I think it is time we go back down before we end up sliding all the way.”

“I will be sure not to allow that, Miss Julia,” Gabriel said before he had really had a chance to think on what he was really implying.

Yet she simply smiled and thanked him. The urge to protect the beautiful young woman was even more shocking than what had just happened atop the hill and as they entwined their arms to walk back down, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel as though he could practically smell love in the air.

It was the silliest of notions on his part, and yet when he looked to his brother and Miss Chelsea, there was no denying that there was as much a spark there as there had been between himself and Miss Julia.

A few days later, Gabriel found himself walking through the less appreciated area of London, paying a visit to a partner of his solicitor who had been recommended to him. Though he had a desperate sense of urgency to get through the meeting and leave for home, he did not expect anything too serious to happen. Yet it appeared that fate had much more in store for him than one might have imagined.

With his meeting finished and all gone well, Gabriel left the run-down solicitor’s office and headed out onto the snowbound street, pulling his scarf a little tighter around his neck as he went. Having walked to his appointment with a need to stretch his legs, he found himself walking back the way that he had come.

He had walked only several steps past the nearest alleyway when he felt someone slip out behind him. More than that, he felt a tugging on his jacket the likes of which he had felt on only one or two occasions over the years.

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