Paddling over, he slid onto the sandy bank beside her shuffling closer until their bodies touched from hip to ankle. ‘I’ll admit I had hopes in that direction.’
She nudged his shoulder. ‘But where would be the fun in that?’
Will contorted his face into a leer. ‘Come sit in my lap and I’ll show you how much fun it would be.’
Another handful of water hit him square in the face. ‘In your dreams.’
‘Every night, sweetheart. Every damn night.’
Her breath caught, a little huff of sound that sent fire shooting through him in spite of the cool water surrounding his lower body. ‘Melody …’
Will cocked his head to the side, but she was staring straight out over the lake, refusing to meet his gaze. There was a tension in her body, a need he could tell for one final reassurance that she could trust him. ‘Means nothing to me; has never been anything to me, I swear it.’
There was a long silence before she finally gave a quick, sharp nod. ‘Okay then.’
Not the most romantic of declarations, it had to be said. ‘Okay then?’ he repeated, unable to keep the amusement from his voice.
‘Yes,’ she said, swinging one leg over his hips to straddle his lap, her arms coming up to encircle his neck. ‘As of now, you and I are officially seeing each other. No secrets, no skulking around and hiding in dark corners because Lord knows it was embarrassing enough watching Arthur and Lucie trying to pretend there was nothing going on between them.’ She cupped his cheek then, her thumb feathering along the scar.
He held his breath, waiting for her to flinch away like so many other women had before, but her touch was a tender caress, as though she was trying to soothe away the long-forgotten pain of his injury. It broke something open inside him, laid bare a vulnerability, a need for total acceptance he hadn’t been aware of. It was too much, and yet he craved it like a man starved. Not wanting her to sense how deeply affected he was by her touch, he curled his arm around her waist and hitched their bodies closer. ‘I quite enjoyed skulking around in a dark corner with you.’
She laughed. ‘Me too, but think how much more fun we can have somewhere comfortable.’
‘Good point.’ He claimed her lips in a hot, sweet kiss. ‘A very good point, in fact, and I think we should retire to somewhere comfortable right this minute.’ He locked his hands on her hips, ready to carry her off there and then.
She rocked down on him, and suddenly he decided that sitting waist deep in the lake was the most comfortable place on earth. ‘There’s no rush, is there? We’ve got the whole summer to enjoy ourselves. Just relax and see where the moment takes us.’
He knew where he hoped it would take them, but for all the sensuality in her movements, he could still sense the reticence in her. She might have lowered the drawbridge to grant him access, but there would still be a lot of defences to overcome before she’d let him near her heart. Right now, he’d take what he could get and, as she’d said, they would see where the moment took them. ‘It’s quite hard to relax when I’ve got my arms full of the most delicious woman in the world, but I’ll do my best.’
*
They spent another hour or so in the lake, making out like teenagers between bouts of playing in the water. When they finally made their way back to the other side where they’d left their shoes, Igraine was visibly shivering and Will couldn’t feel his toes properly. His trainers would be fine without socks on, so he used his to dry Igraine’s feet as best as he could before she tugged on her thick socks and boots. He waited whilst she wrapped the thick length of her hair around a fist and twisted to wring the worst of the water from it before looping it into a simple knot. The sun had moved far enough around, there was no need any longer for her hat, so she carried it in one hand, the fingers of the other tangling in his hands as they strolled back through the woods towards the castle.
They didn’t say much, which was fine by Will as he had plenty to think about. It was all very well for her to declare they wouldn’t hide the fact they were together from her family, but he wasn’t sure how welcome the shift in their relationship would be-particularly with her brothers. There’d be a conversation or two to be had with them, his instincts told him that, and he needed to be prepared for it. Well, he had nothing to hide as far as Igraine was concerned so they could bring it on.
Reaching the edge of the woods, Igraine tugged at his hand to bring them to a stop. She stared up at him, a hint of determination in her eyes. ‘If Arthur or Tristan say anything to you, tell them to mind their own bloody business.’
He couldn’t help but chuckle; clearly they’d been on the same wavelength. ‘I can handle your brothers.’ Unable to resist the sweet lure of her, he encircled her waist and drew her up against him, ignoring the clinging wetness of their clothing. ‘I’d much rather be handling you.’
It was a corny line, but it earned him a giggle and a flurry of kisses which quickly turned into something deeper. Fighting the urge to press her up against the nearest tree, Will clenched a fist in the back of her vest and eased her reluctantly away. Panting, he rested his forehead against hers. ‘Come to me tonight,’ he urged, knowing it was too soon, but unable to ignore the painful ache in his body.
Her fingers curled into his shoulders, flexing and releasing like a cat kneading him with her claws. ‘I’ll think about it.’
Closing his eyes, he pressed a brief kiss to her temple. ‘Think very hard about it.’
Her cheek rubbed against his, as she nodded in agreement. ‘I will. I …’ She trailed off, and he forced himself to stand still and be patient while she sorted through whatever was going on in her head. ‘… I need a little time.’ She glanced up at him through her thick lashes. ‘If that’s okay?’
‘Of course,’ he answered at once. For all the desire thrumming through his veins, he never ever wanted her to feel pressured into anything. ‘Don’t ever be afraid to tell me to back off.’
Fisting her hands in his shirt, she dragged him down for a hot kiss then gave him a little shove. ‘Back off.’ Turning she flounced along the path a few steps before turning to grin at him over her shoulder. ‘Just don’t go too far, okay?’
She held out her hand to him and he jogged to catch up, taking her hand once more in his own. He liked how she fit there, like all the other ways they fit together, like all the ways they would fit together some night soon. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
*
Other than a few raised eyebrows, and a knowing smirk from Igraine’s uncle, their entrance into the dining room hand-in-hand later that evening provoked little response. Lucie’s mother had arrived at some point whilst he and Igraine had been playing in the lake, which served as a good distraction. Will couldn’t help but notice the way Lancelot’s eyes strayed to Constance every few moments, nor the way she lit up when speaking to him and surmised he wasn’t the only one with romance on his mind.
The conversation turned towards plans for Arthur and Lucie’s wedding. ‘The announcement will be in the paper on Monday,’ Arthur said. ‘So, we really ought to give some thought to nailing down a date.’ He glanced across the table towards Lucie. ‘Are you sure you want to go ahead with it this summer? We can wait until things are less chaotic around here, if you’d prefer?’
She shook her head. ‘Let’s get on with. I’ll be too distracted with preparing the exhibition to start panicking over flowers and table decorations.’
Not looking convinced, Arthur turned his attention towards Will. ‘It’s down to you then.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. Are you sure you can stick to the timetable you included with the quote you emailed earlier?’
The initial flutter of panic over how he was suddenly responsible for a wedding quickly faded. ‘I’ll have to get final confirmation from my contractors once you give me the go ahead, but assuming we can get cracking next week, then I’m going to say we can have it all finished by the middle of August.’
‘That’s cutting it fine.’ Ig
raine was frowning beside him. ‘We’d only have two weeks before the summer fete. If you wanted to host the wedding there, it’d have to be the weekend before the bank holiday which wouldn’t give us much time to prepare.’
Will reached for her hand. ‘I’ve built in a week of testing and trouble-shooting for the fountains within the timescale I quoted. There won’t be any works going on in the field area itself so we can get the demarcation ropes installed and whatever marquees and tents you decide on pitched during that same week.’
He turned to Arthur. ‘Depending on how big you want the wedding to be, we could repurpose the marquee for the fete. It wouldn’t take the hire company long to strip out the wedding fixtures and fittings.’
‘The one we had for my birthday party worked very well, I thought,’ Morgana chipped in. ‘I think you’d want something similar for the wedding and it would be big enough to site the smaller stall holders you’re hoping to attract.’
Lucie nodded. ‘The website is going live next week as well, so we should get an idea of numbers of vendors who want to take part in the fete in plenty of time to plot out the final layout.’ She tapped her lip. ‘The only thing I’m not sure about is how the catering would work when we’re so far away from the castle.’
Tristan leaned forward. ‘You can hire some pretty sophisticated set-ups these days. As long as there’s a water and power source to connect to.’ He turned to Will. ‘Can we sit down with your contractors and work that out?’
It should’ve occurred to him before that they’d need to supply the site for more than just the water garden. ‘Of course. Why don’t you and I go down there first thing and survey it out?’
‘Perfect.’ Tristan sent Lucie a teasing grin. ‘If you fancy something a bit out of left field for the reception, we could get some high-end mobile catering vans in rather than bother with a full kitchen set up.’
Arthur scoffed. ‘High-end and catering vans don’t exactly go together. We’re not having our guests eat off the back of a burger van.’
‘Think about it for a minute. I’m not talking about burgers, or fish and chips-well, not exactly. I was thinking more along the lines of someone who could do a hog roast, or a carvery. You’re probably not going to want a load of hot food, so something like that with a decent cold buffet to support it would be ideal.’
‘And you could get a Mr Whippy van in rather than bothering with desserts.’ Will was joking, mostly, but the talk of catering vans had conjured up memories of the excitement around his estate when the chimes of an ice cream van had sent him and all the other kids flooding into the streets clutching a pound coin.
‘What a fantastic idea!’ Lucie grinned at Arthur. ‘What do you say?’
‘It’d certainly be different …’
‘Well, I for one think it’s a capital idea,’ Morgana declared, as though that settled the matter. ‘Now, if everyone has finished their main courses, I’d quite like some cheese.’
‘Oh, we’ll need a cheese board for the wedding, most definitely,’ Arthur said, and the conversation about the catering went around again as Maxwell entered the room and cleared away their plates.
Deciding he’d caused enough mischief, Will let the talk drift over his head and turned towards Igraine beside him. She had that funny half-happy, half-sad look on her face once again. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked, leaning close enough to speak at a volume only she would hear.
Meeting his eyes, she quirked her mouth in a little smile. ‘Yes, fine. I’m just going to miss all this after the summer.’
Not understanding, he frowned at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
She blinked sharply, then sat up straight. ‘Oh, nothing. Never mind me.’ Maxwell approached then and she turned from Will to pass the butler her plate, entering into a discussion with him about what she might want for dessert.
The butler turned to him next, and Will decided against ordering anything else. ‘I’ll help myself to something from the fruit bowl.’
‘Very good, Mr Talbot.’ Maxwell swept his plate away and continued to Morgana who was seated on Will’s right.
Planning to return their conversation to before Igraine had brushed him off, Will turned back to her only to find her deep in a discussion with Constance about the plans for the interactive children’s area in the garden. He bided his time, but there was no let up in their chatter, even after the family decamped from the table to the family room. A suspicious man might have thought Igraine was deliberately avoiding him, especially when she abruptly decided to turn in at the same time as her aunt, who was the first to excuse herself for the evening. A flurry of activity followed, with Constance deciding she would also go up to bed, and both Lancelot and Lucie jumping up to assist her.
With so many people milling around, Will had to settle for a quick peck on the lips, not the long, lazy seductive kisses he’d been hoping to lure Igraine into. Dissatisfied and disgruntled, he took himself off to his own bed. Igraine was keeping secrets from him, and somehow he knew they all tied into whatever had upset her so much the other week.
Chapter 14
Iggy hadn’t known it was possible for someone to say so much with silence, but Will was a master at it. She’d been waiting since her inadvertent slip over dinner for him to ask her what she’d meant, but whenever they were together over the following week, he kept their conversation purely to work matters. When he wasn’t talking to her about the groundworkers who’d started digging out the terracing layers for the water gardens, he was luring her into quiet places so he could kiss and caress her until she didn’t know up from down and all she wanted to do was grab him by the hand and drag him upstairs to bed. Hers or his, it didn’t matter as long as they could lock the door and she could fall into his arms and satiate the desire which had her insides knotted up tight.
She never quite took that step though. Either something interrupted them, or her own doubts got in the way. She couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was that was stopping her. Will was attentive and funny, and the rest of the family seemed to have absorbed him into their whole in the same way they had with Lucie and then Constance. Whatever the topic at dinner, his opinion was sought, his answers given as much consideration as everyone else’s. It pleased and frightened her in equal measure because he fit almost too well. What she’d intended to be a bit of fun-a lovely distraction, a sexy itch to be scratched over the summer-was rapidly turning into something more serious, at least in her mind.
Will remained as opaque as ever. Oh, she knew he desired her, and he seemed to enjoy the quiet moments when they relaxed together curled up on one of the sofas as much as he did the frantic ones when he cornered her alone and laid siege to her mouth with his own. But she was still never quite sure what he was thinking, especially when he just sat there watching her.
There was an expectation in those silent moments, a quiet push that said he was waiting for her to confide in him, a sense of disappointment when she didn’t. But she wasn’t ready to talk to anybody about her plans for the future, not until she had something in place. If she told him she was planning to leave, he might think she was intending to follow him back to London. God, what if he wanted her to? Or, even worse, what if he didn’t want her to, but somehow felt obliged to extend the invitation? She didn’t know yet if they had any kind of a future together, and she wasn’t willing to stumble accidently into something neither of them might be ready for. What little she’d seen of his life in the capital was world’s away from the peace and tranquillity of Derbyshire. Would he slip back into that whirlwind of parties and gossip columns, and would he expect her to join him if he did? She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being under constant scrutiny.
Regardless of all those doubts, she still needed to be ready to move on when the time came. In amongst all the other things filling up her plate, she’d begun to surreptitiously look around at what openings might be available to her. She had her degree from the Ag University, and a wealth of experience b
ut as she’d only ever worked at the castle she’d never had the need to draw up a CV. The examples she’d downloaded from the internet had made her skin crawl with their faux-boastfulness and she’d filed them away in a folder on her laptop to look at on a later date. Right now, she had other things on her mind.
Turning to check the back of her dress in the mirror, Iggy straightened the belt of the jade-green cotton shirtdress and gave her reflection a nod of satisfaction in the mirror. Though none of them really had the time to spare, Morgana’s planned afternoon tea to celebrate Arthur and Lucie’s engagement was due to start in the next few minutes. Iggy knew better than to be late. Slipping her feet into a pair of flat black pumps, she hurried from her bedroom and around the corner towards the main staircase. The door to one of the empty rooms shot open as she passed it, and a familiar hand shackled her wrist with an insistent tug.
Seconds later, her back was to the inside of the closed bedroom door and Will was bearing down on her with a smile that promised the very best kind of trouble. ‘Don’t wrinkle me,’ she warned him, holding her hands up in protest.
Pressing his weight into her outstretched palms, Will leaned across the gap between them. ‘I promise not to mess up anything more than your lipstick,’ he murmured against her mouth before proceeding to do just that.
Breathless and lust-addled, Iggy’s hands softened against his chest. Heedless of her dress, she yearned to feel him against her and was just curling her arms around his neck to urge him closer when a carriage clock on the mantelpiece chimed the hour in three metallic rings. ‘You’re going to make me late.’
Stepping back, Will perused her with a satisfied grin. ‘Not a hair out of place, not a crease to be seen, just like I promised.’
The Bluebell Castle Collection Page 40