Whoa—the plan had been to focus on small talk, to push Daniel into the realms of acquaintance. Instead she was waxing lyrical with philosophy.
Before he could answer she turned away. ‘Where next?’
The curved path led into a woodland area, where alder, willow and birch lined their ascent, and emerged to a view of a bulky hill—a foothill of Ben Nevis. Kaitlin paused and eyed the windy, steep peat path with trepidation.
Daniel raised his eyebrows. ‘Worried you won’t make it?’
In actual fact she’d been worried that her panic might make yet another show. But the challenge in his voice, delivered with a note of teasing and accompanied by a half-smile that notched up her heartbeat, helped shut down the fear before it could take hold.
‘Not in the slightest. I may not be an outdoorsy girl, but I keep fit.’
‘Then let’s go. And I promise the views will be worth it.’
Lord knew he wasn’t wrong—but she’d be a liar if she didn’t admit, at least to herself, that the view she focused on most was the contours of his muscular body, the lithe strength of his frame, the length of his leg, the breadth of his thigh... Until they reached the top, where the panoramic stretch of moorland took her breath away.
Daniel halted. ‘I don’t know about you, but I am famished. Shall we stop for lunch?’
‘Sure.’
He shrugged off the rucksack, unstrapped it, tugged out a tartan picnic blanket and spread it on the ground. Kaitlin sat, her eyes widening as he pulled out item after item. Long baguettes, a selection of cheese, pâté, small pies lidded with smooth pastry edges...
‘It’s like a magic rucksack.’
‘I hope you’re hungry?’
‘Actually, I am. It must be the fresh air and the exercise. There is obviously a big difference between walking on a treadmill and out in the real world!’
Silence fell as they busied themselves, and it was only once their plates were laden that Kaitlin applied her mind to conversation. There would be no more awkward silences bridged by growing awareness.
‘Is this the type of holiday you usually have? Or are you more the party-on-a-yacht type of guy?’
‘I’m not big on holidays. I travel plenty with work, so I usually combine a weekend away with business.’
‘So Ethan must have been very persuasive to get you to do this?’
‘He was.’ He stretched his legs out and balanced his plate. ‘What about you? Where do you holiday?’
Kaitlin shrugged. ‘Like you, I’m not a holiday person. The last time I tried to go with friends it turned into a publicity fest and it was ruined for them.’
But in reality that was an excuse—she didn’t enjoy holidays. New places overwhelmed her, and the effort it took to research and find a new routine mostly wasn’t worth it.
‘Is must be hard to be on show all the time.’
‘It’s part of what I do and I’m good at it.’
‘But surely any publicity intrusive enough to stop you going on holiday is too much?’
‘It doesn’t bother me. We never holidayed as children, so holidays have never been part of my life.’ Her parents wouldn’t have known where to begin—Derwent Manor had always been their priority. ‘My parents thought it a waste of money.’
Daniel raised his eyebrows as he spread a wedge of pâté onto a cracker. ‘I didn’t think money was an issue for the Derwents.’
‘That’s what most people think. In reality Derwent Manor absorbs huge amounts of money every year in maintenance alone, Then we had a flood a few years back, and that caused extensive damage, and so it goes on. Most of my school holidays were spent fundraising.’
‘Did you mind?’
‘No.’
The idea of a Derwent family holiday was impossible even to imagine—any attempt and the illusion shimmered and wisped away. The Duke and Duchess had always parented from a distance, and with Kaitlin that distance had been touched with their distaste after the kidnap—as if she were soiled goods. Though they had still shown her way more attention and approval than they had ever given Cora, but on the flipside that had meant their expectations of Lady Kaitlin were correspondingly higher.