But then Rafferty cursed softly. “I’m afraid we will have to continue this at another time. Your sisters are coming our way.”
“Damn,” Rebecca muttered under her breath, too. She’d been avoiding Fanny for years, and she’d done enough for Jessica to last a lifetime. She hoped not to speak about the wedding again until the day arrived.
Rebecca smiled when her sisters drew close but she’d rather they went away. She’d been feeling very good since she’d woken this morning. She didn’t want her family to spoil her pleasure in the day or her time alone with Rafferty. “Good morning, Lady Rivers. Lady Jessica.”
“Mrs. Warner. Lord Rafferty.” Fanny offered Lord Rafferty a smile as Jessica linked her arm through Rebecca’s. “What a surprise to find you here together.”
“Simply out stretching my legs.” Rafferty pointed ahead, where another couple walked together. “Everyone seems to have had the same idea this morning, too.”
“We must join them,” Fanny insisted. She held out her hand to Rafferty, and he offered his arm.
The pair walked on ahead.
Jessica drew Rebecca along behind but at a slower pace. “We thought to save you,” Jessica whispered.
“Save me? From what?”
“Everyone knows you and Rafferty do not see eye to eye.”
Rebecca pressed her lips together. She disliked Rafferty when he was drunk and disorderly, which had not been the case today or for the past week. He seemed to have mellowed despite his suggestion that he could not change for any reason.
Lord and Lady Morgan greeted them with great excitement, Rafferty particularly. The Morgans were not her particular friends, but she noted the pair seemed keen to monopolize the conversation. They talked of parties they’d all attended recently, and made plans to meet at amusements Rebecca would not usually be invited to.
Feeling out of sorts about that, she wet her lips and pasted on a smile.
But then Lord Rafferty caught her eye and offered a small smile of his own.
A short, small burst of pleasure washed over her skin, causing a blush. “I think it’s time for me to head back to the manor,” she murmured quickly before anyone noticed her reaction to the earl. “Enjoy your walk.”
“Yes, until later,” Lord Rafferty agreed.
But then Rafferty was suddenly at her side, falling into step with her.
She gulped. “What are you doing following me?”
“I’m not following you,” he argued. “I’m continuing my walk. We just happen to be going in the same direction for once.” He laughed and then pointed ahead. “But first, there’s something over there I need to ask you about. Hurry. I promise it will only take a moment of your time.”
“Very well,” she agreed reluctantly. Rafferty had said he was considering improvements he could make to his estate. She followed him into a vine-covered walkway. “What is it? This?”
“No, this.” He turned suddenly, looked around them, and quickly captured her face in his large hand. “I’m kissing you.”
He bent his head and brushed a sweet kiss on her lips.
Rafferty drew back and waggled his eyebrows the way Ava had just yesterday. “Just a taste of what could be yours again tonight.”
Despite her annoyance with him for the trickery in getting her alone, she laughed. “You, my lord, have a one-track mind.”
He nodded and drew closer. “You’ll get used to me. I’m an acquired taste”
He stole another kiss that had Rebecca swaying on her feet. “Stop that,” she chided. “Or I’ll go.”
His answer was a cheeky grin. “That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask what brings you to the country so early this year?”
She looked at him in surprise. “I always stay at my father’s house during the summer.”
“But you never arrive in May,” he said. “Usually you stay in London or attend a house party until June at least. You always bring that blonde woman with you, too.”
She did not want to discuss her falling out with Charlotte. “Not this year.”