Free Recklessly Yours by Allison Chase Page A

teasing my sister, won’t you?”
    From over her shoulder he watched Holly blow out a little breath; the stain faded from her cheeks. Surely her flirting had been nothing more than an effort to procure an invitation here today. She had spoken rightly a moment ago; if she and her sisters wished to learn about racing and Thoroughbreds, they would certainly achieve that goal at Masterfield Park. But that notion left a pertinent question bandying about his brain.
    He took Ivy’s hand in his and raised it to his lips. “Why didn’t you write to me and let me know you were coming to Ascot? Surely you knew I’d have replied immediately with an invitation to stay here at the Park.”
    â€œOh, we didn’t wish to inconvenience you and—” She paused, her bottom lip easing between her teeth. “And our decision to come was rather sudden. I had been feeling under the weather previously and—”
    â€œYou’re better now, I hope?” He leaned in closer. “Simon told me the happy news. You look wonderful. You positively glow.”
    â€œThat husband of mine.” Ivy smiled fondly. “It’s hard to believe a man who once kept so many secrets now cannot cling to a single one.”
    â€œNot when the secret is as happy as this,” he said. “But never fear. He did swear me to silence for the time being.”
    He turned to Willow then, waiting silently beside Holly, and reached for her hand. “I hope you, too, are well, Miss Willow. Are you still dabbling in watercolors?”
    â€œI am, indeed, though not to the extent I was.”
    â€œGood. Then perhaps you shall not ask me to sit again. I am afraid I made the most capricious of subjects last time. My portrait could not have turned out well.”
    â€œOn the contrary, your likeness was one of my best.”
    With a hand to his chest he professed disbelief, and together they laughed.
    Why was it so easy with her? Though as unmarried as her older sister, he could hold her small, warm hand in his own and feel nothing but an acceptable brotherly affection.
    Oh, he knew the answer: he had no desire to be Holly Sutherland’s brother.
    Ivy moved beside Willow and nudged her shoulder. “Aren’t those the Fenhursts over by the refreshment table? Come, we must greet them.”
    They moved off, and Colin wondered if it had been his imagination that Ivy had tugged her younger sister away, purposely leaving him standing alone with Holly. He caught her staring at him with a perplexed expression, as if she couldn’t quite make up her mind about something. An instant too late she lowered her lashes and flicked her glance away.
    â€œSabrina told us there are to be races today,” she said overbrightly, turning her face toward the racecourse, where the grooms were tending the waiting horses.
    He studied her for a moment, until her gaze skittered back to his. “Maybe you’ll tell me why, since Ivy would not.”
    She arranged her features into an ingenuous smile. “Tell you what?”
    â€œWhy she didn’t write to let me know you were coming.”
    â€œOh . . . that.” She gave a little shrug. “As she said, we decided at the last minute.”
    â€œAh.” He offered her his arm, and she slipped her fingers lightly into the crook of his elbow. Strolling with her toward the track, he said casually, “And yet you were able to procure lodgings in the village.”
    â€œYes, at the Robson.”
    â€œMm. Quite a feat, that.”
    Her fingertips tightened against his coat sleeve. “What do you mean?”
    â€œI mean, Miss Sutherland, that reservations for the Royal Meeting are made months in advance. I am astonished that the Robson could accommodate you on such short notice.”
    â€œPerhaps . . . they’d had a cancellation.”
    â€œPerhaps.” Why did he have the distinct impression—a slight prickle at his nape,