Angel in Scarlet (Bound and Determined #4)(41)

Now, this was not so bad. She could almost say she enjoyed riding as long as the horse didn’t move.

“I am not sure that even qualifies as walking,” Colton said, his mount moving at a brisk walk as he returned.

Angela wondered how long he’d proceeded before realizing her mare was not at his heels. She tipped her face up to the sun and enjoyed the soft warmth.

“You’ll get freckles,” he cautioned.

“That has never been my problem,” she said, then added with a smile, “and I’ve a feeling you don’t mind a few freckles.”

“I would admit that I never notice them except in the most extreme cases.”

“Exactly.” She kept her face turned up.

“You stopped following,” he said.

“You are right. I did.”

He said nothing.

She returned the favor.

“Why?” For such a simple word, it sounded dragged from him.

“I wanted to.”

“I thought that what you wanted was to please me,” he said with a laugh.

“I only want to please you some of the time—and you know exactly when and where. I certainly have no intention of doing everything you say.”

“So why did you want to stop? Or was the ride simply too much?”

She was not going to comment on her riding abilities any further. “The purpose of the expedition was to talk, and I thought that might be hard to do if I left all my teeth along the path.”

He did not chuckle. “You want to plan our next encounter.”

“Yes.”

“And you are sure we will have one.”

Rolling her eyes was not out of the question. “You would not have invited me here if you did not wish to continue.”

“I invited you before I heard from Simms about Swanston.”

“Oh—and yet you did send the mare.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“I am not quite sure what else to say. I assume if he was going to expose me that he would have already—or at least, I hope so….Oh, I don’t mean I hope he’s talked; I mean—”

“I understand, and you can be assured he is not a man to talk.”

“Did you speak with him?”

“Yes, but not directly about you. However, I could tell from his expression that he will be discreet.”

“Good. I have been trying so very hard not to think about it. It did seem a shame to have it all end before it truly began and in such a fashion.”

He gave a long sigh. “It might be wiser if we did let it end.”

She did not feel like being wise. She had gone this far and refused to turn back. “We both know that what we are doing is not strictly wise, and we both know we are going to do it anyway. Why waste time discussing the matter? I would rather talk about—about fishing.”

His expression clouded and then cleared. “And do you like fishing?”

“You think I will say no, but in truth I rather adore the sport. Or at least most of it. I do admit that I am enough of a lady not to be fond of the actual fish part. I have only once attempted to remove the fish from the line, when my brother dared me to, and it is not a good memory. Fishing with a companion is quite nice, however. As long as somebody else handles putting the fish in the basket—or back in the stream—I am quite fond of the recreation. And if forced to fish alone when I am on my father’s land, I can always not use bait. That does solve the problem of the actual fish.”

“Fishing without bait?” He looked quite nonplussed.

“Yes. The real joy of fishing is in the sitting and not being bothered. You don’t actually need to catch a fish for that. And I’ve never been quite certain that the fish that Cook serves when I’ve been out at the streams are the same ones I caught. They often seem to grow in size when they appear on my plate. I rather think the local cats get more benefit than anyone else from the fish I catch.”

Now, that brought a smile to his cheeks; she did like it when he smiled. She wished he would do it more often.

“And do you fish often?” he asked after a moment.

“I would like to, but we spend more of each year in Town, and my mother is not content for me to wander on my own when we are in the country. When I was younger I could disappear for hours and she never noticed. Now I believe that if I am on my own for more than twenty minutes she fears the cows are assaulting my virtue.”

“Clever cows—or that should be bulls.” Another smile.

“I wish I was as clever and could figure a way to be on my own without arousing such suspicion.”

“Yet you have managed to meet me alone on four occasions now.”

“I hardly think the first counts as our being alone. We were within a hundred feet of most of society—at least most of those who still remain in London.”

“That is true, and I believe that is much of what you enjoyed.” His smile turned to a smirk.

She was not going to discuss that. “Think what you will. And I was gone for barely over my allotted twenty minutes of freedom. Another five and I daresay my mother or one of my aunts or their friends would have happened to wander after me.”

“Wouldn’t that have been a delight.”

She ignored his comment. “As for the second occasion: It did take some cleverness to take to my bed early without arousing either suspicion or the need to be sure that I was feeling well.”