Free What a Woman Desires by Rachel Brimble Page A

just thinking?”
    He cleared his throat and plucked a length of grass from beside him. “A million and one things, as I always am.”
    She smiled softly. “Then you should make a concerted effort to think less often. Do you know how handsome you look when you smile? It would be really nice for everyone around you if your smile appeared more than once or twice a year.”
    He lifted an eyebrow and fought the smile that pulled at his lips. “The ladies about town seem to like my aloofness. Maybe it’s just you it frustrates.”
    Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “Maybe it is.”
    The atmosphere filled with the heat of his attraction and when her eyes lifted to his, Thomas’s heart kicked. She would never admit it so, but it was impossible she didn’t feel the sexual tension too. It showed in her eyes, the flush at her cheeks and the way her breasts rose and fell. He closed the space between them and offered his arm. “Let’s walk.”
    They strolled along the track in silence for a few yards before Thomas exhaled a shaky breath. “I’ll help you in whatever way I can to get through the master’s funeral tomorrow. Despite my harshness yesterday, I appreciate what it took to leave Bath and come home. I want you to lean on me. I know this isn’t where you want to be, but you’re here now and we need you to care.”
    She stopped and turned to face him. Her gaze was soft as she looked into his eyes. “I do care. I care more than you, Jane, or Mama seem to understand. I came back because, deep down, I had no choice. I am torn and unhappy that I had to leave Bath, but you must believe that I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t care.”
    He nodded. The anguish and sincerity in her gaze could not be denied, even if her words of being torn and unhappy scratched like rusted nails on his heart. He wanted her to be happy here. To see the beauty of Biddestone and Marksville House as he did. Yet, it seemed he desired the impossible. What memories did she hold that could coat such a wonderful place in clear woe?
    She took his hand and a jolt shot through him, but he forced himself still. “I was shocked by Mama’s appearance this morning. Even more so by her words and disposition.”
    “Was that the first time you have seen her in five years?”
    She nodded and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them, they burned with frustration. “I hate that Jane didn’t write and demand I return sooner. No matter how horrible my memories of being here and of the way things were left in Bath with my parents, I do love my family, Thomas. It hurts that they would think otherwise, or that they do not love me enough to call on me in their most desperate hours.”
    He ran his gaze over her hair. “They love you. Your father loved you even though he might not have ever said as much. It’s fear that leads people to make mistakes. Your father feared the life you craved, that’s all.”
    She shook her head. “It was so much more than that.”
    “It wasn’t.”
    “You don’t understand.”
    He tightened his grip on her fingers. God, he wanted her to share whatever held her back from at least considering Marksville as her home. “Then make me. What is it that made you stay away? Why didn’t you come back? Insist they see you?”
    She stared, indecision clear in her eyes. “If Papa wanted you to know what happened between him and I, he would’ve told you. He trusted you above all others.”
    “And now he’s gone. Tell me what happened so I can be who you need me to be as I stand beside you. How can I help you if I don’t know you? We were friends once, weren’t we? We can be again.”
    Tears shone in her eyes. “Do you mean that? You would forget the past and just help me to move the estate forward? To think about our future and nothing else?”
    Caution screamed inside his head, yet still he nodded. “I promise.”
    She drew in a long breath and pulled her hand from his. She walked a few steps away and turned her back to him,