by Karen Welch
“No mother. Not at all. Now I think I see our lunch coming. I’ll have to ring off, but I’ll see you before dinner, I promise. Goodbye, Mum.”
He passed the receiver to Peg, doing a bit of shaking off of his own.
“Are you always such a smooth liar?”
“What?”
“We haven’t even ordered lunch yet, so I assume you were lying to your mother to get off that call.” Her grin was almost sympathetic. “It’s all right. It must be embarrassing to have her checking up on you, at your age especially.”
In spite of himself, he grinned back. “She worries about me, even at my age. And I think she’s a bit jealous, frankly.”
“Of what?”
“Of you. Mother hasn’t adjusted to the fact that I’m a fully hatched male and that I might prefer the company of other women to hers. I really hoped when she and Patrick got together she’d stop requiring so much of my attention, but sadly, that hasn’t been the case.”
Sipping her drink, she seemed think that over. “What will she do when you have a wife and family?”
“That won’t pose a problem, since I never expect to have either of those things. Nevertheless, she can’t be tracking me down when I’m having lunch with a beautiful girl in such an exotic setting.” Something about the lingering sadness in her eyes and the blatantly romantic atmosphere prompted him to give in to his impulses. If Peg were any other girl, he’d have long since encouraged her to take full advantage of whatever he had to offer. As it was, his only option was to slide his hand across the tablecloth until his fingers linked with hers. “Now can we let our respective parents fend for themselves for at least a few hours? I want to enjoy my time here, make a few pleasant memories to take back to London.”
Once again, she stared briefly at their entwined fingers. When she looked up, her eyes had regained their sparkle. “I’d like that. We can pretend we don’t have a care in the world, or anyone worrying about where we are or who we’re with. How’s that?”
“Brilliant. Now tell me what you’d like to do this afternoon, or will there be any afternoon left by the time we’ve eaten? The service here is leisurely to say the least, isn’t it?”
As if on cue, the waiter materialized, this time bearing menus. “I’ll give you a moment to make your choices.” Another bow and he vanished as smoothly as he’d appeared.
Kendall scanned the engraved list, trying to translate the dollars into pounds sterling. His weekly meal allowance wouldn’t cover lunch here, if his calculations were anywhere near correct. “Good heavens. Is that really the price, just for an egg salad sandwich? Who laid the eggs, a golden goose?”
Peg’s giggle was the reward he’d been hoping for. “I think it was the other way around, wasn’t it? The eggs were golden, but the goose was just an ordinary goose? Don’t look at the prices. Just order whatever you want. Besides, we’ll put lunch on Dad’s tab. I only carry enough cash for cab fare.” Reaching suddenly for his hand, she flashed him an unexpectedly warm smile, sending a shiver streaking straight down his spine. “Now, try to look as though you’re enjoying yourself. We’re about to have our picture taken.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Now that was memorable.” He nodded to the doorman as they stepped out onto the pavement. “I was afraid there for a second I was expected to kiss her hand, after she’d just been thoroughly licked by her dog.”
“She was very impressed with you, I’m sure. She’ll tell everybody she knows about my charming English cousin now. And, believe me, she knows everybody!”
“And I should be flattered, I suppose?”
“Of course. You’re practically a celebrity already, and you’ve only been here for twenty-four hours.” She stopped, looking around and shielding her eyes from the sun. “Let’s go into the park. At least we can find some shade there.”
He let her take his hand and pull him in the direction of the park entrance. Within minutes, they were beneath a canopy of trees, and while the pathway was bustling with other walkers, there was a chance here they might have some privacy. Peg’s pace slowed, and he shortened his stride to match hers, adjusting his grip until her hand was curled securely in his.
“Let’s sit here. I’m too full to do much walking.” Pausing by a bench, she took a seat without withdrawing her hand. “It’s warm, even for July in New York. You could take off your jacket if you wanted to.”
“I’m fine, for the moment, anyway. Although I suppose I could dispense with this now.” One-handed, he untied the scarf and tried to unwind it.”
“Here, let me.” With her free hand, she finished the job. “Kendall, could I ask you something?” Making a great show of tucking the scarf in his pocket, she peered up at him through her lashes.
“Of course.”
“You told me you don’t have a girlfriend in London. But you do like women, don’t you?”
“Good lord, of course I do! Why ever would you ask that?” He sensed a ploy, although he couldn’t guess her game.
“Well, it’s just that I know there are men who don’t especially. I mean, like the men who become priests and monks. And some artists and musicians are so dedicated to their work they don’t have any interest in women. When I asked Maeve if you had a girlfriend she as much as said you weren’t the sort of man who had girlfriends.”
He swallowed the laughter swelling in his chest. “Maeve said that, did she? So you just assumed that since I’m a musician, and I don’t have a girlfriend, I must be one of those men?”
“I didn’t assume. I just wondered.” He was perversely pleased by the blush coloring her cheeks.
“First of all, let me assure you that I have a very healthy interest in women. I just lack the time and means to enjoy a relationship with one at present. As to Maeve, I confess I may have given her that impression in hopes of discouraging her—how shall I put this—overt assault on my virtue. A man, even a musician, has his principles, you know.”
“There you go again, sounding oh, so proper, when I think you’re really laughing at me.” She tugged her hand from his grip and pretended to sulk, folding her arms and looking up the path away from him.
“Peg, may I ask you a question now?” he asked gently.
“What?” Though she kept her head turned, he sensed he had her full attention.
“Are you flirting with me, just a little perhaps?”
When she whirled around to face him he half-expected to see anger in her eyes. Instead, after a moment of stunned silence, an impish grin spread over her face. “Maybe just a little. Who could blame me?”
“Ah. Is this going back to my passing looks, or my very proper English manners? Because I should warn you, both can be deceiving.”
“No. It has more to do with the fact that I like you and you’ve always been nice to me, even back when I was an awful little brat.”
“I see.” He allowed the tenderness she so easily aroused to deepen his voice. “And what if I told you I still think of you as that little brat, although admittedly a somewhat more attractive version of your former self? I do, you know, because that’s the Peg Shannon I was first drawn to.” In another instant, he would have to take the supreme risk, but for now, he was content to watch her face as she digested his words. Slowly, her eyes widened and her lips parted in a silent gasp.
“You were?”
“Oh, yes. Even then, you managed to do something to my heart no other female had ever done.” With one finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face until there were mere inches between them. “I have no business doing what I’m about to do. And you have every right to stop me. And I hope to God Simon isn’t hovering in the bushes preparing to break my neck, but may I kiss you?”
“Oh, I wish you would. I’ve never really been kissed right, you know. Or at least I hope I haven’t, because it just felt like someone mashing their mouth against mine. That’s not what it’s supposed to feel like, is it?”
“Will you please be quiet long enough for me to show you?” Wh
en she nodded slowly, he went on. “Now close your eyes. I hear it’s best that way.” Instantly, her lids drooped. “If at any point you decide you don’t like it, please let me know.”
“Okay.”
He couldn’t help one cautious glance over his shoulder. The path was vacant, and unless Simon was a master of disguise, the only human in sight was an elderly woman dozing on a bench down the way. The breeze stirred a strand of hair at Peg’s temple and he touched it, letting his hand slide to the back of her neck. “Ready?”
“Um-hmm.”
He’d meant to simply drop a chaste kiss on her primly posed mouth, to gauge her response before going further. Peg, apparently, had something else in mind. She reached up with both hands, pulling his head down with a strength reminiscent of years earlier. Her lips opened beneath his with a low moan, insisting that he take the kiss to a greater level of intimacy in record time, even for him. In broad daylight, on a public park bench, Kendall found himself clasping Peg in his arms, crushing her in fact to his chest, and being kissed to within an inch of his life by this girl who claimed she had never been kissed “right” before.
He doubted she would have stopped before nightfall, so involved was she in stroking his hair, exploring beneath his jacket and discovering the secrets of his dental work. In the interest of public decency, he forced his way up for air. “Peg! My word! What do you mean, you’ve never been kissed? And here I thought I was about to teach you something.”
“I said I’ve never been kissed right. And I haven’t.” She hadn’t taken her eyes from his mouth, as though she were planning further explorations.
“Well you certainly took to it right off the bat.” He ran a hand over the back of his head, smoothing the hair she’d set on end. “Good heavens, girl. I think that’s enough of that for now, don’t you?”
“Not really. But if you didn’t like it. . .” The impish grin reappeared.
Releasing her completely, he straightened his jacket and skimmed his palm over his mouth in an attempt to calm the memory of that kiss before he was tempted to go back for seconds. “It isn’t a matter of liking. I hadn’t expected you to like it quite so much. You’re sure you’ve never done that before?”
She sat back with a sigh, her eyes wide with wonder. “No. Never. The three whole times I’ve been kissed, I honestly thought I was going to gag. But this was so different. I guess it’s all in knowing how, isn’t it?”
Tossing back his head, he barked a laugh. “I’m not so sure about that. I think you could teach me a thing or two, frankly. And I’m afraid I’ve been kissed more than three whole times.”
“Lots more?” She fixed him with an arch stare.
“Lots more. I’ve been at it for a while, you know.”
“Did I do it right? I mean, it felt really nice to me, but did it seem all right to you?” Perhaps another ploy, but she seemed to sincerely expect some kind of score.
“I can honestly say no kiss ever moved me more deeply. And there’s something of a problem with that, I’m afraid.”
She looked genuinely alarmed. “What kind of problem?”
“Knowing how much we both enjoyed it, it would be tempting to do a bit more of that kind of thing in the time we’re together. I am safe in assuming you wouldn’t object to repeating that performance?”
“Right now, if you don’t mind.” She reached for him, her eyes a bewitching shade of sapphire.
Catching her hands, he redirected them to her lap. “It isn’t that I mind. It’s what your father and every other member of your family might think, not to mention my mother’s opinion of the two of us carrying on that way. You have to know they wouldn’t approve.”
She shrugged. “You’re probably right. Although I know Dad really likes you. You think, because I’m only eighteen, they would really mind us being more than just sort of cousins?”
He smiled, tipping her face up again. “I do. And I wouldn’t want to make things uncomfortable for any of us. That’s why I said I had no business kissing you in the first place. But quite honestly, sweetheart, I haven’t thought about much else since I first saw you yesterday. Remember I said once I shuddered to think what sort of woman you’d grow up to be?”
She seemed mesmerized, her eyes fixed on his lips. “Yes. And I said if you were lucky you’d be around to find out.”
“I consider myself the luckiest man on earth right now. And damn me, but I’m going to kiss you again, if you have no objection.”
Not only did she fail to object, she insisted he kiss her repeatedly, ignoring a line of young boys on roller skates who breezed by laughing and making rude noises. Once again, he was the one who ended the thing, aware of the real danger of losing control completely, public park or not.
“I could very quickly become addicted to you, I believe.”
She snuggled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “It is nice, isn’t it?”
“Nice? That’s hardly a word I’d use for the effect you’re having on me. Promise me something. Don’t ever, ever kiss any of those poor, innocent boys who were at that party last night. You don’t understand the harm you could do them.”
She chuckled softly, leaning her head back to look up into the trees. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t. None of them could compete with a man like you.”
“And I wouldn’t advise you to kiss a ‘man like me’ either, not if you know what’s good for you. Be very thankful I have an intensely protective instinct toward you, brat. If I ever saw any other man doing to you what I’ve just done, I’d be force to take him to task. Which is what I’ll have to do to myself, if you don’t stop looking so eager to be kissed again.”
“I’m not sorry you like kissing me. We’ll have to find someplace more private for the next time.”
“The next time?”
“You’ll be here for almost two more weeks. With any luck, we’ll have lots more chances to do this again.”
He too put back his head to gaze up into the trees, seeing among the branches visions of kissing Peg in a more private place and the kind of havoc she would bring down on them both. The truth of the matter, which he readily admitted, was that he had no defense to offer for his conduct if caught in the act and even less defense against Peg’s charm. Much as he might wish to heed the warning bells clanging in his head, the beat of his heart told him there would be no denying her whatever she demanded.
“Listen to me, brat. We must be very careful, you must be very careful, not to take this little adventure too far. You can’t afford to trust any man to keep his head when you make yourself so adorably available. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“You’re saying you find me attractive, right?”
He lowered his head to search her face, thinking she must be teasing. “Attractive? That’s a ridiculous word to describe someone as beautiful and alluring as you, Peg. We may joke about the ugly duckling and the swan, but sweetheart you put the swan to shame. You can’t possibly see yourself as anything less than a lovely, desirable young woman.”
She looked away, her face falling suddenly. “But I don’t. My mother was all those things, like a model in a magazine, and I’m so little like her. I’m always disappointed when I look in the mirror. Oh, I know I’m not ugly, but I’ll never look like that. You’re very sweet to say that, though.”
Anger flooded his chest, its heat tightening his throat. “I’m not just saying it. If anything, you’re more beautiful than your mother. You’re an original, far much more genuine than any of those merely pretty faces on the pages of magazines.” He forced her to meet his gaze. “You are Anna Margaret Shannon, a smart, funny, exciting and truly beautiful woman unlike any other. Anyone who tries to tell you differently is a blind fool!”
Her eyes swam with tears as she reached up to gently stroke his face. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Of course I mean it. And God forgive me, but I’m going to kiss you again. And then we really have to leave before Simon comes searching for
you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Dinner was a typical Shannon family gathering. Kendall sat back as the three brothers dominated the conversation, while Maureen quizzed Peg for details of her debutante year and Eloise smiled and nodded, adding a comment here and there as though she were really interested. Kendall was aware of the question in his mother’s eyes, and braced for his own interrogation later. He and Peg had returned with just enough time to dress for dinner. He avoided his mother’s room in favor of a quick shower and a few minutes to frame an appropriately vague version of their afternoon. Whatever Peg might say about the day’s events, he decided that to smile without comment would be the safest course.
If he had worried she might say too much, he was now more confident of her discretion. When asked by her father about the visit to the dressmaker’s she assured him she’d found the perfect dress, adding that Kendall had approved, to which he nodded noncommittally. To Michael’s question regarding the afternoon, she reported on their lunch at the Palm Court, complete with details of their conversation with Mrs. Smith, going on to tell a brief, amusing story about the infamous lady and her dog for the benefit of the others. A “stroll in Central Park” was her dispassionate summary of the rest of the afternoon. As he finished his dessert, he silently blessed her for not glancing in his direction while earnestly assuring her father she had not “taken advantage of poor Kendall’s good nature by dragging him all over Manhattan in the heat of the day.”
Leaving the dining room, he was invited to join the others in the study for more of the same sort of conversation over brandy. “Actually, sir, I wonder if there might be a place I could practice without disturbing anyone? Anywhere would do.”
“Peg, darlin’, show Kendall the ballroom. That should be the very thing.” When Michael gave Peg a hug and seemed to be saying goodnight, Kendall took his cue.