But Aurora drew back, moving out of range. “Good night,” she said firmly.
This was clearly a woman he could not easily sweep into passion. What surprised him was how much he suddenly wanted to. She’d always seemed the most impulsive of the three cousins. On every other occasion, especially at the academy, where he’d been a client, she’d been an endlessly passionate champion of his chances of making a good second match. But perhaps that enthusiasm did not extend to gentlemen who tried to kiss her in dark carriages. She was a spinster, after all. An innocent.
He winced. He had forgotten that somewhere along the way.
Drew might have a chance to kiss her again someday, or perhaps not. “Good night, Miss Hillcrest,” he whispered, as the carriage came to a complete stop in front of Wharton House.
He moved deeper into the shadows when the Wharton butler appeared in the open doorway holding a lantern. Drew’s grooms raced to put down the steps to allow Aurora to disembark. She allowed the grooms to steady her on the steps and then she was safely beyond his reach.
Aurora hurried up the stairs of Wharton House and passed inside without looking back even once, leaving him in darkness.
Drew, however, watched the front of Wharton House as the carriage drew away, a familiar disappointment gripping him.
He was going home alone again. He would sleep alone again. He would speak to no one in the morning when he first woke, save his valet.
He closed his eyes and remembered how it felt to be holding a woman in his arms…and particularly Aurora Hillcrest. The moment had been perfectly natural between them, and that was rare in his experience. He truly hoped he dreamed of her tonight.