Page 41 of Give Him a Chance
She hadn’t meant to.
Well, shehadmeant to, but not properly.
Well, not properly, but not with her hands around his neck.
Well, not with her hands around his neck pulling him closer, closer, because she needed to drink him in, this freshness and vibrancy to her life that Lucy had never known she’d been missing until Mr. Bernard Dixon had walked out of that dock and into her life.
And his lips were parting hers, and his excellent kissing was making pleasure roar through her, and Lucy could do nothing but hold on for dear life as one of Bernard’s hands slipped around her waist and the other cupped her cheek, tilting her head, deepening the kiss as his tongue trailed—
“Lucy? Lucy, are you in here?”
Lucy froze.
With Bernard Dixon’s lips on hers.
Her mother. Oh, dear God, it was her mother.
Her mother. Without the spectacles she needed to properly see. Staring into a dark room.
“Lucy?”
Slowly, very slowly, but still too fast, Bernard released her lips.
“I’m—I’m coming, Mama,” Lucy croaked. “Just… Just needed a moment of quiet before the next game.”
“Right you are, and don’t forget to count your spades. You always forget to count spades when you’re playing and it shows,” came the response from her mathematically minded mother. “Have you seen Mr. Dixon? I’ve momentarily lost him.”
Lucy swallowed as she looked up into the eyes of said Mr. Dixon, which were about two inches away from hers. “I… I’ll let him know you’re looking for him if I see him.”
“Thank you, darling,” called the Countess of Lindow, who shut the door behind her.
Well. There was nothing for it. Lucy was nothing if not obedient.
“My mother is looking for you,” she said weakly, blinking up at the man who had just given her the very first kiss of her life.
The man who had just given her the very first kiss of her life swore under his breath.
“Bernard!”
“I’d prefer to stay here,” he said in a ragged voice, finally releasing her waist and stepping back with a rueful expression. “And damn it, Lucy, but I shouldn’t have done that.”
‘Shouldn’t have’?
Shouldn’t have given her the best moment of her life? Shouldn’t have made her feel like the most beautiful, the most wonderful woman in the world?
Lucy glared and stomped around the irritating man whom she would surely be getting rid of any day now, and shot over her shoulder, “I’ll let Miss Eaton know you’ll be returning shortly,” before slamming the door behind her.
