Chapter 3
Roselyn watched the doors swing shut before she dropped to the ground. Placing her head into her palms, she let out a deep groan. This was not how it was meant to be. They were not meant to be on such reticent terms. Their first meeting had been one better left to be forgotten, but that did not mean they had to treat one another with such coldness.
With those thoughts in her mind, she jumped to her feet. If her hair was a mess, she did not mind. If her gown was stained, she would not think of it. Peirce was attempting to run from her for some reason he had concocted in that mind of his, but she would not let him. She would prove to him that she was not the demure wallflower he thought of her.
Pulling the skirts of her gown up, she ignored the fact that her feet were bare and ran after him. As soon as she left the kitchen, she spotted Cassie standing in the foyer with a worried expression on her face. Her cousin had her bottom lip sucked into her mouth as she nibbled on it. That was a distinct sign that Cassie was planning something that would anger at least one person in the household.
“Do not think of it!” Roselyn yelled as she darted out the manor door.
How she knew Peirce would be out her, she did not have the slightest inkling. If she were him, she would immediately find solitude in the stables. Ever since she had arrived, she found that talking to the horses calmed her. It allowed her to stop and think.
As she ran down the stone stairs, she only had a minute to appreciate the wonderful weather before she slammed into a body. Her brother grunted as her elbow smashed into his stomach. She winced and mumbled an apology, but still ran towards the stables. Once she had her mind set on something, she would not turn her attention elsewhere.
Entering the stables, she heard one of the horses neigh. It was Fury, there was no doubt in her mind that it was the mare neighing her greeting. Out of the two horses, Fury was the more outgoing. It may have sounded odd if she voiced her thoughts, but anyone who stepped foot near the two, would understand completely.
“Peirce!” she whispered in a hiss.
A rummaging noise told her exactly where the man was, and she did not hesitate to pull the stall door open. What she did not expect was for him to be sitting in the hay. A necklace was in his hands as he bowed over it as if he were in prayer. Roselyn went to take a step back, to give the man his privacy when his head snapped up. His eyes narrowed before he let a smile cross his lips. She recognized the smile well; it was the one that he used to drawl people away from the situation. He wanted her to forget what he had held in his hands and focus on the charming smile.
“Is it your wife’s?”
“Was my wife’s,” he corrected her with a nod. “I have nothing of my sons, nothing. The only thing I have to remember them by is this.” He dangled the thing in front of his face with a frown on his face, as if the item was inadequate.
She was tempted to ask more, but his closed expression let her know that it would be unwelcome. She did not want to push Peirce away. If anything, she wanted to be his friend. She wanted what him and Cassie had, an easy relationship that benefited them both.
“I came to speak to you.”
“I thought as much with the way you came in here as if hounds were biting at your heels. They are lovely, might I add.”
She looked behind her, expecting to see animals crowding the entryway to the stall, but when she saw nothing, she turned to him with a confused expression. “What?”
“You’re feet. Many women deem in improper to show a man their feet. It is a pleasant surprise.” Her gown dropped as a flush spread across her cheeks. He smiled. “There is the rose.”
“Stop your teasing at once.”
His smile turned into a grin as he stood to his full height. Taking a step towards her, he looked down at her now covered feet. “Who said I was jesting?”
She gasped, slightly outraged that he would say such a thing, but also amused at his playfulness. This was what she wanted. Mayhap, she would not be required to have the uncomfortable conversation she had planned.
She opened her mouth to begin speaking, but he cut her off. “What is it that you wanted to say?”
“I,” she paused, searching for the words, “wanted to put our past behind us.”
Something flickered across his face. “The past is a part of my life that I do not easily forget, but for you, I will forget ours.”
“I thank you,” she mumbled in relief. “It was quite mortifying.”
“I thought you a loose woman and you thought I was attempting to cause you harm. There was nothing mortifying.”
“We kissed,” she whispered while darting her eyes around.
He let out a laugh. “There are no others here. Yes, we had the misfortune of kissing one another under false pretenses. It was nothing to either of us. As you said, it is forgotten in our past.”
Listening to his words, she wondered how he had used her words to attain what she did not want. Had she ever said she wished to quit kissing the man? No. She had merely stated that she wanted the moment where she had hit him in the head with her reticule to be forgotten.
She took a step closer to him, and he sent her a weary look. “What if I do not wish for the kiss to be forgotten?”
He took a step away from her and raised his hands in surrender. “It is a wish that I cannot grant. We will not explore this thing between us, and I will not allow you to.”
“You do not control me,” she said with a glare.
Taking another step forward, she got immense satisfaction in the fact that he did not back away once more. Her hand moved up to brush his brown hair out of his eyes as he had done to her moments earlier. She let it linger on his forehead before tangling it into his hair. Pulling his head down, she reminded him what their first meeting was like, filled with passion neither of them could deny.