Cardiff Siblings 01 - Seven Minutes in Devon (32 page)

“
I must say, though, I’m
rather surprised by it all still.” Morgan slowed when she heard
Kingley’s bark, and her tone turned more serious. “I never in a
hundred years would have imagined you would be marrying Aidan. Why,
you’ve hardly spent any time with him, and Sir Henry seems quite
fond of you…”

There was no opportunity for Emma to
respond. The others were upon them, and the day’s lessons got
underway.

They’d only been working together for
a few minutes when, of all people, Aidan made his way across the
lawn in their direction. He’d said he would join them, but she
hadn’t really believed him. Every day, he went off to work on his
sculpting in the hermitage. He hadn’t taken part in any of the
daily activities since only a day or two into the house
party.

Now that they were betrothed, did he
intend to behave more like a gentleman? Emma was half-tempted to
place a wager on how long such behavior would last.

By the time Aidan arrived in the
clearing, Kingley had led Morgan halfway to the wood, skirting her
around various barricades with Mr. Deering and Sir Henry alongside
the pair of them. Emma and Miss Selwyn had stayed
behind.

“
Lovely day,” Aidan said
when he reached Emma’s side. He placed his hand in the small of her
back.

She couldn’t decide if his action was
possessive or protective. Bother, why did this all have to be so
confusing? Her muddled head only grew more muddled by the heat he
put off. It rolled from him in waves until she felt like she might
suffocate from it. And yet she couldn’t help but want to draw
closer to it, which only left her frustrated with
herself.

“
It is,” Miss Selwyn agreed
when Emma remained silent for so long it was becoming
uncomfortable. “We’ve had delightful weather through the whole
house party, haven’t we, Miss Hathaway?”

“
Quite,” she bit off. Her
stare remained firmly affixed upon the lawn, but her thoughts
didn’t budge from the entirely too enticing warmth coming from
Aidan’s body.

Miss Selwyn looked over at Emma shyly,
her brown eyes blinking rapidly. Bother and blast, she hadn’t meant
to be rude to the lady, and it was all Aidan’s fault.

“
Dear me,” Miss Selwyn
said, leaning in closer to Emma, “you and I will both be spotted if
we aren’t careful.”

Aidan tensed at her side. “I could go
inside and fetch a parasol—”

“
That won’t be necessary.
I’ll get one.” The girl gave Emma a conspiratorial look then, as
though she were doing Emma a favor by leaving her alone with the
man she was to marry. “I’ll be back before you realize I’m
gone.”

That wasn’t even remotely possible.
Before Emma could voice a complaint, the sweet girl had scampered
off, leaving Emma alone with Aidan while watching Morgan and the
two gentlemen work with Kingley.

Aidan drew her closer, his
hand almost curling around the far side of her waist. She sighed in
resignation. Well, she had
intended
to sigh, at least. The truth of the matter was it
came out more like a huff, which only caused him to
chuckle.

And
that
gave Emma quite the start. The
clenching in her stomach turned to flutters at the sound. Heavens!
In all the time she’d known him, she had never once heard Aidan
Cardiff laugh in any way. Oh, he certainly always bore a half-grin
of sorts, but there was always a sneer beneath it. Always a snide
remark, something biting and boorish. He had to be the least
cheerful man she’d ever in her life known.

“
Have I amused you, sir?”
she asked when she’d regained her wits—no small task.

“
Aidan,” he corrected. “And
yes, you have.”

“
I’m so glad to know I can
provide you with such a diversion.”

“
You couldn’t possibly be
as glad of that fact as me.” He tugged her closer still—close
enough it bordered on being scandalous. “It’s a relief, considering
we’re soon to be married. I like the idea of having a wife who can
keep me entertained.”

The trio with Kingley took another
turn and headed back in their direction. The baronet kept his focus
firmly on Kingley as they traversed the course he’d devised for the
day’s lesson. Such pure and honest joy lit Morgan’s face, one
almost couldn’t even see her scars. Mr. Deering’s effusive praise
for Kingley would be enough to cause one to blush, should it be
directed at a person and not a dog.

How would Aidan react if Emma were to
grant him such praise? She flushed at her own silliness and tried
not to think about it.

Morgan’s reaction to their
betrothal couldn’t have put things into perspective better than it
had. The entire house party knew there was
something
between Emma and Aidan, but
that something couldn’t possibly be more than lust. There was no
love. There was no great affection.

The other revelers had offered their
congratulations, of course, but they all knew there would never be
anything more between Emma and Aidan than what there already was.
How could there be, especially with the pervasive heaviness that
pressed upon her even now.

Emma tried to put more of a
respectable distance between her and Aidan, but it was no use. His
hands were as hard as the chisel and hammer he so often wielded,
and his arms were as solid as the marble. “I wouldn’t think it
should matter how much I entertain you,
sir
. Since our marriage will only be
in name—”

“
It doesn’t have to be only
in name.”

“
It does!” This time, she
spun on him. Only he didn’t release his arm, instead pulling her
more fully into an embrace and securing the other arm behind her
back, holding her in a manner that stole her breath and forced her
pulse accelerate so drastically she thought she might expire on the
spot. Emma pushed against the brick wall that was his chest. “It
does have to be only in name, because Lord Burington will murder
you—”

“
If I hurt you. I know.” He
smiled, but it wasn’t his usual knowing smirk. It was more
seductive, and even a bit disarming. “But if I don’t hurt
you…”

His charm was addictive. Intoxicating.
She wanted, with every part of her being, to believe he could truly
be this laughing, smiling man and not the brute he’d always been
before. But one afternoon could not change the entirety of their
past, despite the wobbling of her knees.

“
You will,” she said
firmly. “You’ve given me no reason to believe
otherwise.”

Aidan’s blue eyes narrowed, and he
stared at her for a long moment. “You’re right,” he said at long
last. “I haven’t. And I don’t know how to change your mind on that
score other than doing everything in my power to prove to you that
I won’t hurt you.”

Morgan’s laughter rang out over the
lawn, and Emma tried to turn and see what had so amused her friend,
but Aidan wouldn’t release his hold upon her.

Instead, he grinned with sly intent.
“I won’t hurt you, and we can have a true marriage…in every way
sense of the word.”

When he pulled away finally, she
shivered from the sudden loss of his heat. He released her and took
a step back, and the smirk had returned once again.

She pursed her lips and turned to see
Morgan and Sir Henry, only to have the baronet look away as though
he’d been caught staring.

Once more, Aidan wrapped one arm
gently but possessively around her waist, then he bent down to
whisper in her ear. “He might be the safe choice, Emma, but safe is
overrated.” His breath warmed her ear and cheek. “And then there is
the small matter of you having already accepted me.”

“
Did I?” Emma mused aloud.
If memory served, she hadn’t agreed to anything. She had merely
been told what would take place, as was so often the case when men
were involved.

“
Whether you’ve agreed
verbally or not, you know why you’re going to marry me.” Again, his
warm breath brushed her ear and fanned over her cheek, leaving
tingles in its wake. “Whether you like it or not, I stir something
inside you. Something Sir Henry Irvine doesn’t come close to
rousing within your soul. Something you want more of. Something you
desperately need, though you can’t give it a name or reach out and
grasp it.”

Even as he spoke, a needy ache settled
in her belly and her body felt aflame, as though his very words
were enough to cause the sensations his hands and mouth had
awakened on more than one occasion. When he trailed the callused
fingertips of his free hand down the length of her arm, barely more
than a tickle against the fabric of her sleeve, she couldn’t stop
the shudders from coursing through her entire body.

“
I can give you that and
more.”

There was no denying that
Aidan sparked her passions, something Sir Henry did anything but.
It was not love, but it was at least
something
upon which to build. Wasn’t
it? Could it be enough? For the first time, she allowed herself to
feel a sense of hope at the prospect.

“
Have I missed anything
exciting?” Miss Selwyn called out from behind them, startling Emma
with her intrusion into such an alarmingly intimate. She trudged
back out to where they were standing, a parasol in one hand and a
blanket in the other.

“
Nothing at all,” Aidan
replied, stepping away from Emma to take Miss Selwyn’s
accoutrements from her.

Emma’s gaze followed him and his eyes
shot up to meet hers…his eyes that were filled with all the heat
and promise he’d just roused within her.

This was turning into everything she’d
decided she didn’t want, and everything she’d promised herself she
would avoid. And yet, for some reason, she couldn’t make herself
care.

She feared she might just be forming
some form of attachment to the man. Not love. Not yet. But there
was something more…

After supper, Emma was finally able to
pull both Serena and Morgan off to the side of the drawing room,
just the three of them.

“
Thank heavens,” Serena
said as she dropped onto a silk brocade covered armchair. The
Pomona green muslin of her evening dress fluttered lightly before
settling around her. “I’ve been desperate to talk to you, but I
haven’t been able to get away from…”

“
From Lord Muldaire?” Emma
put in for her. She kept her voice down, so no one could overhear.
Granted, the only people nearby were a grouping of matrons with
rather poor hearing, who were entrenched in a game of loo. They
would never hear a word.

“
Indeed.” Serena gave a
rueful smile, but her tone was enough that surely even Morgan could
make out her expression.

Morgan reached across and took
Serena’s hand in hers. “Why did you accept him if you don’t wish to
be married to him?”

“
Father didn’t give me a
choice. They’d worked out the details of the marriage contract, and
it was signed before I was even told of the matter.” With her free
hand, Serena fidgeted with the lace flounce on her gown. “And since
I haven’t yet reached my majority…”

“
You have to do what he
wants you to do,” Emma deduced.

Morgan chewed lightly on her lower
lip, deep in thought. Then she frowned. “I suppose you’ll just have
to make the best of it. There’s little I can imagine I’d enjoy less
than spending my entire life married to a man I didn’t
like.”

“
But I—” Serena cut herself
off, but her eyes flitted across the room to where Lord Trenowyth
stood. He crossed to stare out the window after passing a longing
glance in Serena’s direction. Then she met Emma’s gaze and shook
her head, pressing her lips together.

So everything Emma had
suspected was true. Serena was stuck in an engagement to a man she
didn’t love…and the man she
did
love, the man who loved her in return, was one she
couldn’t have.

Emma gave her friend a consoling
smile. “Morgan’s right,” she said. “You’ll just have to make the
best of it.” She cringed even as she said it, but what else could
she tell Serena to do? There weren’t many options
available.

Was that what she would have to do
with Aidan? Make the best of a less than ideal situation? This was
not what she’d planned when she’d come in search of a
husband.