Free Smitten by the Spinster by Cassidy Cayman

then she’d thrown in a Scarlett O’Hara eyelash flutter. She served up a more modest meal for herself while she tried not to feel his eyes sweep over her. Since living in this time, she’d gained at least a stone or more, having no access to kickboxing or sweaty yoga or dance classes. When she felt certain no one was watching, she might run flat out for the length of a street, but if anyone ever saw her they’d either chase or think she needed assistance.
    Horseback riding was the only exercise any of her young charges ever did, and Lizzie could sit a horse, having taken a few lessons in case she ever needed the skill for a role, but she couldn’t keep up with them, and it was a sport for the wealthy, not a servant like herself. Prowling the streets and trying to do pushups and crunches in her room at night was the best she could do to stay in shape, but in the past year she’d grown extremely soft.
    The appreciative smile Quinn gave her after boldly checking her out made her blush and also feel good from her head to her toes. If someone as handsome as Quinn thought she looked all right, maybe she hadn’t gone too far to pot.
    “Ye’ll need your strength to keep up with Catie’s antics,” he said, still keeping his eyes disconcertingly trained on her.
    She had to admit she liked his attentive gaze, but had to remember her place, especially after rudely fleeing from his presence the night before. As embarrassed as she was about that, it was better he think she was a bit brittle, so she gave her tightest lipped smile and sat down at the far end of the table. When he didn’t follow her, she felt a twinge of disappointment, but shoved it aside.
     After she’d coldly rebuked his friendliness, both after playing chess and in the breakfast room, he’d stopped reading in the same room as her at night, instead choosing a book, nodding at her and leaving. That same strange disappointment hit her each time he left, an emotion she couldn’t figure out and refused to entertain. It was for the best. He was a distraction, nothing more.
    He hadn’t joined them on any of their visits, so when he turned up in the hallway as they were preparing to leave for a carriage ride around the park, filling up the space and taking up more than his fair share of oxygen, Lizzie stepped back as if burned from his nearness.
    He reached out and took her arm. “Are ye well, Miss Burnet?” he asked.
    His hand was so big, he could have wrapped it all the way around her wrist and overlapped his strong fingers— oh, why was she assessing his finger strength? She forced herself to smile and breathe naturally, becoming slowly accustomed to his towering presence. She looked up into his face and seeing that he had a definite twinkle in his eyes, she blushed. Did he know how he set her off balance, and did he enjoy her discomfort? She ratcheted up stern spinster mode to eleven and raised a brow at him, pressing her lips together.
    “Certainly. We’d be delighted to have you accompany us, wouldn’t we, Catie?”
    “Aye, of course,” she said, always happy to spend time with her brother.
    The carriage was not new or shiny, though the Amberly’s were abundantly rich. Lady Amberly had money of her own and had married quite well, her husband’s trollish nature and looks notwithstanding. But Lord Amberly loved country life, walking around his vast estate with his carved staff, hunting and riding and being better than his neighbors. They rarely came to town and he had little interest in what was fashionable.
    When Lizzie first made the trip out to their estate, she was surprised to see how nervous Lady Amberly was to hire her for her niece’s coming out. Though she had the name that would allow Catie invitations, she didn’t actually know many of the families outside of her neighborhood and was afraid she’d do something wrong and spoil Catie’s chances. She’d never even seen the girl, and had nothing good to say about the sinister Scot