Her gasp was lovely. All feminine concern and startled wits.
“Where does it hurt?” she asked. Her hands, meanwhile, were flying over his body, skimming over him in a decidedly clinical manner.
Still. Rather lovely.
He hid a smile with another wince and a groan as she hovered over him, her brows drawn together in concern. “Did you sprain something? Show me where it—”
Her gaze moved up to his face and whatever she saw there, she stopped talking abruptly and sat back on her heels.
He ceased his groaning and his rolling back and forth to grin up at her.
“You were teasing.” Her tone was cold, her lips pressed together in a straight line.
His smile was unapologetic. “I had you for a moment there.”
She rolled her eyes as she pushed up to her feet. “You...you…” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
He chuckled at the sight of this formidable, serious young lady at a loss for words. “I would give all the money in the world to know what you were about to say.”
Her eyes snapped open.
He leapt to his feet and leaned in toward her, loving the way her eyes glinted with anger and mischief. “Were you going to call me names?”
Her lips pursed slightly and he suspected she was trying not to laugh. “Of course not, Lieutenant Colonel—”
“Call me Sebastian,” he said. Again, he noted. “Please.”
She blinked twice. “I don’t believe we are so well acquainted—”
“But we will be,” he interjected. “After all, you’ll be staying in my home for the foreseeable future, dining at our table, being bored silly right alongside me.”
Her lips twitched upward but she squelched a smile once again as she gestured toward the ground. “Was that what this was about? Are you so bored that you have to perform theatrics?”
“Of course not,” he scoffed. “I just wanted to see the look of alarm on your face when you thought you broke me.”
She chuckled, the sound low and light and utterly charming. “I did not think I’d broken you.”
He clasped a hand to his chest and raised his voice by several octaves. “Oh no! Where are you hurt? What have I done?” He threw his hands up in a melodramatic gesture. “However can I ever make it up to you?”
She arched one brow, her lips still curved up in amusement. “I don’t recall saying that last bit.”
“Don’t you?” he teased. “How curious. I could have sworn you pledged your life to my future happiness.”
She stared at him for a long moment before shocking the life out of him with a loud laugh that was so delightfully unschooled. So natural and vibrant. So filled with life.
He wished he could wrap her and her laugh up in his arms and carry them off where his father couldn’t smother them.
She looked around them at the wide expanse of land and the sea beyond. “What are you doing out here? And by yourself?”
“I might ask you the same,” he said.
Both brows hitched up and amusement flickered in the depths of her eyes. “I live here.”
He turned to follow her pointed gaze and, sure enough, the seaside home he’d visited only weeks before was sitting there. Funny, he hadn’t realized he’d walked quite so far. “Ah,” he said. “So you do.”
Her pursed lips held an air of smugness that went beyond alluring. He would be in the wrong every day of his life if it meant she smirked at him so very sweetly.
“Tell me, Miss Sally,” he said. “Do you always sprint along the cliff’s edge as though you are being chased by the hounds of hell?”
Her smirk disappeared and he was sorry to see it go. She dipped her chin and nibbled on her bottom lip. “We don’t get many visitors.”
He just barely swallowed a laugh before it escaped. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Her smile was slow and sweet as she shrugged. “Take it however you like.”
From any other woman, it might have sounded flirtatious. From Miss Sally Jones it sounded like a challenge. He took in her pinkened cheeks, the straight brown hair that was falling down around her face.
She caught the way he was looking at her and made a hasty attempt to put herself to rights. “My apologies, Lieuten—” She stopped short when he arched a brow. “Sebastian.”
He grinned. He liked the way she said his name. Like it was a challenge. Again with the challenges. He had a feeling this was a young lady who let no one get away with anything.
He could hardly wait to see her take his father in hand. Heaven knew someone ought to. The man had been a bear to be around ever since their mother died. Not even his saint of a brother enjoyed his brief stays at the manor.
Sebastian half suspected this latest crisis his brother had been forced to run off and handle was entirely fictional. A ruse just to get out of another boring house party and away from his father’s never-ending and seemingly imaginary ailments.
He could hardly blame his brother if that were the case. He would have run away too if he could have.
Why hadn’t he thought to escape first? Now he was stuck at the house until his brother returned and—
“I am sorry,” she said.
He blinked. He’d forgotten why on earth she was apologizing. “For what?”
“Erm…” She looked around guiltily. “For behaving improperly. And for, er…” Her voice was more stilted than he’d ever heard it. She sounded demure and...
Proper. This whirlwind of energy was attempting to be proper.
He fought a cringe. Heaven save him from more tedious and proper young ladies. “You have not offended my delicate sensibilities,” he said quickly. He leaned in as if to let her in on a secret. “You are not the first woman to throw herself at me.”
She pulled back with a gasp and crimson cheeks.
He was torn between guilt and delight.
“That is...not funny,” she said. But as she said it a choking noise escaped.
“Isn’t it?” He grinned.
