He lowered his arms to the table and leaned toward her. “How did I convince you?”
“You mentally took me back in time with you.” She smiled and a pleasant expression crossed her lovely features as if remembering brought her great joy. “I love history, and so I knew what things happened in your time. I knew what foods you ate, and what activities were done.” She shrugged. “That’s how you convinced me.”
“So how are you going to convince me?”
Her smile slowly disappeared as she scooted her chair closer. “I’m going to tell you what you had told me about your life.” Reluctantly, she placed her hand on his arm. “You had a mistress you wanted to keep a secret, however, the woman had a loose tongue and told everyone that you were going to marry her.”
He released a harsh laugh. “Oh, really? What was her name?”
“Lucy—Mrs. Dinsmore.”
Immediately, anger filled him. That was currently happening with Lucy. That was the very reason he decided to end it with the widow. “What else did I tell you about my life?”
She stroked her palm slowly up and down his arm. “Your mother loves her flower garden, and the reason why is because when she was a young girl, they had lost their home and she had missed the flowers. Her favorite flower is the purple rose.” Gently, she squeezed his hand. “And, that’s your favorite flower because it’s hers.”
How did she know? She couldn’t possibly… No, someone must have told her, yet he had never told a living soul that he loved the flower because it was his mother’s favorite. A different emotion twisted in his chest, and for the life of him, he couldn’t stop the sting of tears from touching his eyes. “What else?”
“You and your mother were displeased with Edward’s decision to marry Lady Agnes. Her father and brothers were gamblers, and they were depleting the family coffers quickly. Apparently, only a few gentlemen had known about their lack of funds. Both you and your mother knew Lady Agnes only wanted your brother because of the family wealth.”
He nodded. “Yes, that is true.”
“And,” she leaned forward, “the secret stayed between you and your mother. Not even your father knew of it, right?”
“Correct.” How else would she know all of this—unless he had told her? And because he didn’t remember telling her, then he must have told her…in the future. Inwardly, he groaned. This was just too hard to accept no matter how hard he tried.
Silence stretched between them for several long minutes as his brain tried to process what he’d heard. As hard as it was to convince himself things like time-travel were possible, a niggle of doubt crept in his head and whispered, what if? Dare he trust and believe her story? Something deep down inside of him told him yes.
Chapter Fourteen
Halle waited for some kind of reaction—anything—that would suggest he believed her. Because of his hesitation, and the silence, she figured he was mulling this over in his head. She’d watched his expression closely for signs that he was beginning to trust her. When she talked about his mother’s flower garden, his expression told her that he was starting to believe her. He knew nobody else would know about his mother and the secrets between mother and son.
Slowly and softly, she stroked his arm, moving her palm a little further each time. He must believe her!
“Is there more?” he finally asked.
“Yes. In a few days, someone will attempt to kidnap Georgiana.”
Andrew’s eyes widened and he straightened. He grasped her hand and peered deeply into her eyes. “When?”
“I don’t know. When you first told me about it, the alleged kidnapping happened a couple of days after Edward had proposed to Lady Agnes. Because there has been no engagement announced, I don’t know if Georgiana will be kidnapped now or not.”
“Who kidnaps her?”
“You never told me. The way I understood it was that someone tried to kidnap her, but your father stopped them before they were able to take Georgiana away.” She tightened her grip on his hand. “But I promise to stay close to her and keep that from happening.”
As he continued to stare at her, the color of his eyes turned a lighter, softer blue and gradually a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“I love how you care so much about my family when you have only known us a short while.”
“I might not have known them very long, but they are your family which makes them special to me. I promise I’ll do all in my power to keep them from harm.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, his attention never straying from her face. Her heart leapt. Did that mean he believed her? She could only pray for that miracle.
“Miss Chapman—”
“Halle, please.”
“Forgive me, Halle.” His smile widened and he winked. “You do not know how much it means to hear you say that. It thrills me beyond words to know that you would help my family so selflessly.” He kissed her knuckles again, this time his lips lingered on her skin longer than before. “Tell me, Halle, when I was in your time, how long had we known each other?”
“About a week.”
“And during that week did…um, did we become close?”
She nearly giggled with happiness. She knew where he was going with this. “Yes, I believe we did. I was the only one you confided in—and who believed you were actually from 1848.”
Nodding, he stroked his thumb across her knuckle in a tender caress. “And during that time, did you have feelings for me?”
A blush crawled up her neck and heated her face. “Yes, although I didn’t say anything to you.”
“Did I return your feelings?”
“You never said the words, but I want to think you did.”
“What happened to me—in your time?”
Her heart sank. She didn’t dare tell him, but…as long as he doesn’t go forward in time during the attack, he’ll be fine. “The reason we didn’t really confess our feelings to each other is because you were very sick. At first we thought it was traveling through time that did it, but I believed you were being poisoned. I don’t know why—or who was doing it, but you showed the symptoms. You had actually died before I entered the tree to come here.”
“Well, let’s hope that doesn’t happen to me again.”
“My thoughts are the same.” She nodded.
Andrew didn’t speak for a few, long and agonizing, minutes. He continued to brush his lips over her knuckles while his gaze held to hers. Anticipation beat a steady rhythm in her chest, making her breathless. Either that or it was his gentle touch, or that his blue eyes were so dreamy, and his breath so warm against her skin.
Now she wished the table wasn’t between them. Would he think her forward if she scooted around to his side to get closer? Of course he would! She must wait—no matter how agonizing it would be—for him to make the next move.
“You know,” he said, finally breaking the silence, “it sounds unbelievable, but since I met you in the corridor on the first day, I have felt some connection with you. I don’t know what it is, but part of me wants to trust you. To protect you.”
“Do you think it’s because of the time-travel?”
“I couldn’t say, but I do feel close to you.”
“I’m glad.” She held to his hand with both of hers. “Because that’s how I felt when I met you in my time. I felt that you were not a stranger to me, even though we had barely met.”
His gaze moved over her face slowly before resting on her lips. Cotton grew quickly in her mouth. She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “Well, I suppose I should go back to my room now. It’s getting late, and…well, it’s very improper for me to be in your room.”
“In your time, did available women meet with men in their bed chambers?”
She chuckled and nodded. “But even in my time, being with a man in her room could ruin a girl’s reputation.”
He nodded and slowly stood, pulling her up along with him. Keeping her hand in his, he closed the
space between them and stared down into her eyes. Oh, how she wanted him to kiss her! Her breathing turned ragged, and the anticipation strumming through her right now ran so fast it made her chest ache.
Stroking her cheek, he leaned closer. Kiss me! She resisted the urge to pucker first, even though it was difficult.
“Then I suppose staying here any longer would definitely not be a good thing.” His voice was deep, sedated.
Now she wanted to kick herself in the tush for saying that. Then again, he was right. She needed to leave. With the spark of awareness between them and all the electric heat remaining in his room was extremely dangerous. “Not a good thing at all.”
“Do you want me to walk you back to your room?”
“No,” she answered softly. “I know the way.”
She waited patiently—all right, maybe not so patient—for him to finally kiss her since his mouth was so close to hers she could smell his breath… She inhaled deeply. Grapes. He’d been eating grapes not too long ago. But the longer she waited, the more she realized he wasn’t going to kiss her. The tease!
Well, if he wasn’t going to kiss her, standing so near was a wasted effort. Decision made, she pulled away from him and moved toward the door. “I hope to see you tomorrow.”
“You will.” He followed her.
“Please let me know if you have any more questions about…well, all of this.”
“I will.” He reached in front of her and pulled the door open. “Sleep well.”
“I shall.” With a heavy heart, she turned and left the room, walking softly on the squeaky floor toward her room. Why hadn’t he wanted to kiss her? He was right there—she was right there… Men!
The fire in her hearth had burned down to a few flames. She was glad she’d left a little light in her lamp because it was enough for her to find the bed. She shrugged out of the wrapper and kicked off her slippers. The floor was chilly tonight, but then winter was upon them. She couldn’t even imagine what it would be when the snow finally covered the land.
She grasped the top of the quilt and sheet, pulling it down to climb in. But just as she sat on the mattress, the door knob rattled and a second later, Andrew stormed into her room. The set of his jaw and the glint from his narrowed eyes made him appear very determined.
Surprised, she gasped and jumped to her feet, facing him. “What are you doing here—”
He marched to her and before she knew it, he’d taken her in his arms. “You forgot something.”
“I…I did?”
“Yes. You forgot this…”
He lowered his head as his mouth swept over hers in an earth-shattering kiss…because it definitely shattered all her defenses. With a deep sigh, she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as she answered his stormy—and oh, so sexy, kiss.
His mouth took control over hers, and she let him lead the way. His hands clutched the back of her nightgown as he pulled her against him tighter. Never had she been kissed so passionately, so emotionally, that it left her breathless and wanting much more. Warmth tingled over her body from the top of her head clear down to her once-cold toes. No more did the floor feel cool. Instead, she felt flushed—hot—and ready to swoon with happiness.
Soon his demanding kiss softened, but he continued to kiss her passionately, as his lips moved expertly with hers. His hands had released their grip on her nightgown and moved slowly up her back until his fingers stroked her long hair. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.
“Do you know I have wanted to caress your hair since that first day I saw you wrapped in my mother’s afghan?”
His voice was so deep it hardly sounded like Andrew, and his breathing was as ragged as her own.
“You have?” Good grief! That’s not my voice…is it? She sounded like those sexy women in those sultry movies.
“Halle, you are so lovely, so wonderful, so…perfect.” He dropped his mouth to hers again.
She didn’t want him to stop, yet she knew that if he didn’t stop a lot more things would happen tonight. Although the idea was tempting, she couldn’t let things between them go that far. Yet hearing him say those things about her melted her heart, and now she didn’t want to release him.
But she must.
Expelling a pleasurable sigh, she reluctantly pulled away and peered into his shadowed—and very dreamy—eyes. “Thank you.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. “For what?”
“For doing what I had forgotten to do in your room.”
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “You are most welcome. Next time, don’t forget.”
“Oh, believe me, I won’t.” She winked.
He turned and left the room. When the door closed behind him, she felt empty. Her arms already ached to hold him, and her lips would continue to tingle from his passionate kiss. Now she couldn’t wait for tomorrow to get here.
Unfortunately, before she could fall in love with this incredible man, she must focus on trying to keep him and his family from dying.
* * * *
It didn’t matter if Andrew had only gotten a few hours of sleep, he was still up at the crack of dawn. And smiling!
Even when he’d crawled in between the sheets and readied himself for sleep, his mind wouldn’t stop. But it was different than before. Now he pondered if he was the one insane for believing such an outlandish story. Yet he had no choice. Halle had said things that nobody else would know.
So, if he couldn’t chase away the doubts of her being insane, he might as well join in with the madness. And as he readied himself for the new day, he looked forward to sharing Halle’s insanity. For certain he must have been out of his mind when he kissed her so passionately last night. Pleasure had consumed him fully in only a few seconds of taking her in his arms. Never in his life had he felt so complete. Life finally had meaning. He wanted to embrace the newfound feeling…and run with it.
Call him foolish, but right now he was just too happy to care.
The first item on his agenda today was to confront Edward and tell him to leave Halle alone. She wasn’t interested in him, anyway. Hopefully, Andrew would be able to convince his brother and all would go smoothly. But Edward had always been stubborn, especially if he wanted something. Andrew grumbled. Perhaps things wouldn’t go smoothly after all.
He headed into the breakfast room to find nobody seated at the table. Obviously, the rest of the family hadn’t awakened early like he had. A few servants scrambled to ready the room for the morning meal. He wasn’t in the mood for food as much as he was for conversation with his brother. But until his older sibling joined him, Andrew had no other choice but to eat and wait.
Almost two hours later, his brother walked into the breakfast room with a bounce in his step, and appearing extremely too chipper. Andrew knew he was going to ruin Edward’s good mood momentarily—and in a way, he almost didn’t want to. Not very often did Andrew see his brother this happy.
When Edward finally noticed Andrew, he slowed his steps and narrowed his gaze. “By Jove, brother. What has possessed you to be at breakfast? You usually skip this meal to go riding.”
Leaning back in his chair, Andrew crossed one ankle over the other under the table. “I realized that I needed to finish the conversation we had started last night.”
Edward arched his bushy eyebrow. “The one about Miss Chapman?”
“The very same.”
Edward’s jaw hardened as he moved to the side table, collecting a plate and filling it with sausage, biscuits and fruit. “I must admit, I am quite surprised that you would want to talk about that when only last evening you were so adamant to end the topic.” He turned away from the food and sauntered to the table. “And now I’m wondering what’s changed your mind.” Sitting across from Andrew, he picked up a linen napkin and folded it across his lap. “The last thing you said to me was that you didn’t care what I did with Miss Chapman.”
Andrew planted his feet firmly on the floor and leaned fo
rward, resting his arms on the edge of the table. He glared at his brother. “I take back that statement. The fact of the matter is…I do care what you do with Miss Chapman.”
One of the kitchen servants hurried to Edward’s side to pour him a cup of coffee. “Why the sudden change, my dear brother?” He lifted the cup and slowly sipped the liquid; his gaze holding Andrew’s.
“Because I have come to realize how deeply I care for her.”
Edward choked on a swallow and set the cup back on the saucer. He beat his chest with the palm of his hands a few times before chuckling. “You care deeply for her? When did these feelings start, Andrew? The last I knew you could not stand the woman.”
“Then you misunderstood. I have been very confused about her presence, but she has intrigued me nonetheless. Because of that, I have the urge to protect her from the likes of you.”
Edward spit out a laugh. “What are you saying? That I’m not good enough for the woman?”
Nodding, Andrew drummed his fingers on the table top. “That’s precisely what I’m saying. Miss Chapman is not the type of woman you set your sights on. She’s not from a noble family so marriage is out of the question, and she’s certainly not going to be your next mistress. Therefore, I think you should back away.”
His brother bunched his hands into fists and aimed his steely glare at Andrew. “Back away? Are you threatening me?”
“This is not a threat. It’s a command.”
“Have you forgotten I don’t abide by your commands? I never have and I never will.”
Andrew chuckled and leaned back in his chair once more. “Well, I suppose you can try to court her, but you will fail. She does not like you.”
“Indeed?” Edward’s eyes widened and seconds later he threw back his head and cackled. “Oh, dear brother, what an imagination you have. All women like me and want to marry me. Miss Chapman is no different. I danced with her plenty of times last night, and I know when a woman is interested. She is definitely interested.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. His brother was sure full of himself. Always had been—always would be. “Then I suppose you must proceed with your feelings for her. I was just trying to save your ego from being deflated.”
Love Lost in Time (Victorian Time-Travel) Page 18