“You’re not wrong.” They had both cheated at games since they were young. Even now, spending time with her in this familiar way felt a little like cheating.
Their laughter eventually died out, but she seemed just as content to lie there on the grass staring up at the blue sky as he was. The sun was hot as it blanketed their faces, but he didn’t mind. Oliver raised his arm to lay it on the ground above his head. He could feel Elizabeth’s hair against his fingers and see her chest rising and falling from the corner of his eye. He could easily imagine spending every day for the rest of his life like this. Elizabeth was the only woman he had ever been able to imagine in his future—the only woman he wanted in his future. To spend the days adventuring, raising children, running across the grounds of their own estate sounded like a dream. Maybe having her within the walls of his childhood home would even erase some of the painful memories.
No. He would never subject her to that life. He was not going to marry Elizabeth Ashburn.
He watched her fingers trace the soft petals, mesmerized by her tender movements. “Speaking of Town…” her voice trailed off.
“Were we?”
“A moment ago, yes.” Her lashes raised to peek at him, looking almost shy. “Which unfortunate debutante was able to steal Oliver Turner’s attention this past Season?” She dropped her gaze to the flowers again.
He closed his eyes, wishing he could tell her the truth. He wished he could tell her that he had been chasing women the past few Seasons in attempts to shake her from his mind and no other reason. But no one—not one woman—measured up to Elizabeth. It was as if she were painted in bright colors and everyone else in muted tones.
Those words could never be spoken to her. It would cross a line he could never return from. “Miss Surrey was intriguing.”
Elizabeth smiled, but her grip tightened on the stems of the flowers. What was he supposed to think of that? “Oh? And do you foresee this intrigue lasting?”
He rolled his head to look at her. Her sights were fixed on those flowers, which gave him the perfect opportunity to admire the way the sun made her golden blonde hair look like light, sweet, dripping honey. He wanted to run his finger across the freckles on her nose and cheeks. Did she know how beautiful she was? And what was it she had asked him? Oh, yes. Did he see his intrigue in the woman he had only made up a moment ago lasting? “No, I do not. I’m not sure I was made for anything lasting.” At least, that was the excuse he was using from then on out.
She finally removed her gaze from the flowers and rolled her head to look at him. Her eyes perfectly matched the sky above. It was agony having her mouth so close to his that he could feel her breath against his lips, and yet he could not close the space between them. “Perhaps, one day, you will find someone who makes the idea more bearable.”
He already had.
Oliver sighed, discreetly feeling the curls lying against his fingers. He wished for time to stop. For the two of them to lie under the summer sun together for the rest of their lives.
Kate’s voice cut through the air, proving that wishes did not come true. “I was not jesting! I am moments away from eating all of your food!”
Elizabeth smiled, dimples appearing in her sun kissed cheeks, before she sat up. He made to follow her, but the next thing he knew, Elizabeth’s hand was on his chest and pushing him back down. He only had a moment to relish that action before she sprang from the ground and ran as fast as she could toward the tree, only looking back to yell, “Your dessert is mine, Turner!”
How had that woman so fully captured his heart? He feared he would never recover.
Oliver continued to hold Elizabeth in his arms for several minutes. She made no attempts to step back out of his embrace, and he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon. With her near, he felt as if his pain could no longer reach him.
“Are you staying at Lord Hastings's house, then?” she asked, her voice muffled by his cravat.
“Actually, as it turns out, Lord Hastings and I are something of neighbors. Pembroke is not far from here. I’ve come to settle my father’s estate business.”
He felt her shoulders stiffen. She pulled back to look at him. “Neighbors?” Why that word seemed to offend her so much, he didn’t know.
He nodded, hesitant to confirm it because of the wary look in her eyes.
“But—that means…” Her voice trailed off and her expression looked spooked. Elizabeth turned her face away and squinted into the distance, as if seeing something that wasn’t there. Finally, she shook her head from whatever painful daydream she looked to be having. “Nevermind.”
“No, tell me.”
Her lips pressed together and then she leaned in again to settle her head against his chest once more. “It’s nothing. How has it been, staying at Pembroke?”
He sighed. “I’ve only spent one night there and I’m not sure how many more I can take. My father is gone but…his memory still feels far too alive in those walls.”
“I can imagine. Why did you need to come?”
For you.
“I needed to look over Frank’s ledgers with his solicitor before I can sell it.” Almost without thinking, Oliver raised his hand and stroked down the side of Elizabeth’s hair. Oddly, she didn’t even seem to notice. Or maybe she just didn’t mind.
“You’re going to sell?”
“I certainly cannot live there,” he said.