“The key is easy to find and I thought you’d be stargazing tonight. I was going to look at the stars while I waited but I cannot see a telescope anywhere.”
“You wouldn’t see a thing in the sky with the lamp lit,” he warned her. “You’ll have to go.”
She set her hands to her hips. “For the last time, it was only a race. Hardly scandalous. You do not need to avoid me like I am diseased. Can we not be friends again?”
“We cannot ever be friends.”
“That’s ridiculous. We have always been friends.” Her eyes narrowed. “Or have you only been my brother’s friend and merely tolerated my company?”
“It is not that.” He hated to hurt her feelings but the truth was best. “Simply put, the more we are seen together, the more talk will be stirred up. To be found together and alone is disastrous. The talk would not be kind to you.”
The hurt in her eyes took his breath away. Julia had never learned to school her emotions. What she felt was written all over her face for anyone to read.
“So it is true what they say. You are embarrassed to have lost to me.” She covered her mouth with one hand, and then squared her shoulders. Her eyes lost their usual mischievous sparkle. “It must batter your pride to have lost to a female as foolish as I,” she accused him in a voice tinged with anger.
He caught her arms before her voice grew any louder and eased her toward the door, intending to push her out. He did not want them to be caught together, alone in his workshop. Not after all the terrible things said about her around town. Not after listening to her brother rant and rage every single day for the past three months. “Stop right there and we can talk tomorrow.”
She tried to shake off his grip. “Tomorrow you will ignore me again and I’ve had enough of that.”
The best thing for her was to go. He pushed her harder toward the door.
In the candlelight, her eyes widened and she resisted him. “I thought you were a gentleman. Unhand me!”
“I’m not in the mood for misunderstandings, Miss Radley. You simply must leave.”
Her hands lifted to curl about his biceps and squeeze. The discomfort her digging fingers inflicted was a surprise. Julia was stronger than he’d expected—and then he was the one being moved. They wrestled for dominance a moment but unless he wanted to risk hurting her, they were reasonably matched. He took a breath. “Why do you provoke me?”
“I’m not.” And yet she did not let go of his arms. “I don’t believe that because you are a man, you must be obeyed at all times. Linus is just as overbearing.”
“I’m nothing like Linus and you know it.” Frustrated by her obstinacy, he jerked her against him.
Julia landed against his chest, her fingers pinched into his arms as she stared up at him.
Her lips parted in surprise. “Valentine?”
“Must you always be so bloody stubborn?”
“But we’re not done speaking.” Her eyes flashed with fire again, the same spark of life and excitement that had convinced him to accept her dare.
He nudged the door shut with his foot instead of throwing her out and pressed her back against the door. “God help us both if my cousin spots us together.”
“Teresa would say nothing about it once I explained why I am here.”
“Why are you here? You know what people will say about us if we are found.” As he stared at her, a sudden urge to bend her to his will overtook him. She was wild, and a firm hand could tame her. The idea took hold as he stared into her glorious green eyes.
Could the reason she pursued him like this be that she’d grown to like him?
There had been a time he’d wondered about her. One summer she’d fluttered her eyelashes at him in a dazzling manner that might have meant she had a spec of dirt in her eye, but later he’d realized could have meant something entirely different. She’d not behaved in that manner since but perhaps she’d just been shy. After the race, he had held her to ease her distress over Imogen. He convinced himself he’d merely offered brotherly comfort.
But I’ve never held my own sister that way.
With Julia so close now, he had a perfect opportunity to discover the state of her heart and his own.
He leaned forward, aiming to brush his lips across hers.
They touched; a delicate brush that sent his pulse racing. Yes!
Then, faster than he could think, she took his feet out from under him and he fell hard to the workshop floor.