“It’s not far to the picnic. Would you prefer to walk or ride?”
“Walk,” she said without hesitation. Though she was bound to roast in her habit, she was done riding this animal.
“Are you certain? A little tap on your horse’s rump and he’d go. He’s just old, tired, and likely lazy.”
“Oh don’t,” she said with a bit of a laugh. “We’ll walk.”
He gave a nod and swung down from his horse, coming around and reaching up his arms to her.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, a tingling racing up her arms at the touch even as he lifted her down, her body landing close to his.
For a moment he held he there, staring down into her eyes. “Evie.”
The way he said her name filled her with breathless wonder. “Thank you for coming back for me.”
He grimaced. “I should have ridden alongside you. We were late thanks to a missive I received and I was trying to hurry because I’d held up my aunt.”
She gave him a playful smile, her hands still on his shoulders, his about her waist. “A duke? Concerned about holding people up?”
He stared down at her then. “You’d be surprised how many men consider it a personal challenge to see if they can unsettle me. Almost as though they are more masculine for getting under my skin and they’ll take any excuse. Tardiness is only one.”
“And do you let them?” She noticed that he struggled to control his emotions at times, particularly his anger. Was that why?
“Sometimes,” he confessed. “But then I tend to overreact and—”
She shook her head. “I understand.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “I also struggle to know how hard to push. Granted, I usually err on the side of not hard enough but…”
He looked down at her, his mouth, opening and closing. “Thank you, Evie. I think that I’ve waited a long time to hear someone say that she understood.”
She smiled at him. Her heart full to know she’d given him something that he needed. “You’re welcome.”
But the welcome had hardly left her tongue when he bent lower, his lips stopping an inch from hers. Was he going to kiss her?
Everything seemed to stop around her as their breath mingled. He stared into her eyes and then, he dipped just a touch lower, brushing his lips against hers.
She’d imagined her first kiss a hundred times but she’d never realized how much she’d feel. Light and happy, with shivers of pleasure racing through her veins.
And when he lifted his head, those feelings only intensified as their gazes locked again.
* * *
Evan hadn’t meantto kiss her like that.
Honestly, he hadn’t meant to kiss her at all. But as warmth spread through him, he couldn’t exactly say that he regretted the touch.
In fact, it had been wonderful.
He looked down at Evie, her chin tipped up to angle her mouth toward his and he dipped his head again, tasting her one more time. Citrusy sweet, he pulled her body closer, satisfaction spreading through his body as the feel of hers settled so perfectly against his larger frame.
He had the oddest feeling that she belonged there.
“Evan.” His name sighed off her lips, only heightening the emotion of the moment. He found himself reaching to cup her cheek in his palm.
“Yes?” he asked as he stroked his thumb over her cheekbone.