He turned to her as they walked together through the hall. “There are still more doors. We will check them tomorrow. If your door isn’t here, then we’ll search the forest. If there was a way here, there must be a way back.”
“You’re very reassuring.” She smiled and his heart went a little soft. There was nothing he could do to stop it. “You must be eager to get rid of me.”
“Miss Darling,” he said steadily, trying not to think about the fact that she didn’t sound playful about it. “I don’t think aboutridding myself of you. If I didn’t want to be here with you, I wouldn’t be.”
“Well,” She looked away for a moment to laugh at herself. “I mean, I don’t want you to be happy to see me go, but I also don’t want you to be hurt when I go.”
“I won’t be happy to see you go,” he let her know, trying not to smile at her like some hapless fool. “I also won’t be hurt.”
She didn’t look any happier, but she smiled. “Good! Well, goodnight then.”
Boldly, he reached out and snatched her hand. “Come to my dance hall with me.”
“Now?”
What was he doing? He forbade his mouth from opening. His head betrayed him when he nodded.
She took a step with him and then stopped and smiled at Harper approaching.
Harper smiled back briefly, then turned to Gray. “Can we talk?”
“No,” he said through his grounded jaw, and tugged on Miss Darling.
“You should both go talk,” she intervened, pulling her hand away. Gray gave her a disbelieving stare. “I’ll see you tomorrow, my—”
“Stay right where you are,” he ordered.
“It can wait,” Harper told him and turned to leave the way she’d come.
Miss Darling stopped her. “We were just going to my lord’s dance hall. Why don’t you come along? He was just saying earlier that he missed talking with you.”
“Miss Darling,” he barked. “I said no such thing!”
“Not with your words,” she admitted. “But your eyes spoke for you.”
He would have laughed at her preposterous statement if Harper hadn’t started walking away.
“Harper,” he commanded. “Bring your violin.” He wanted to sound angrier than he felt. In fact, he wasn’t angry at all. Hell, what would betray him next? His heart? His gaze slipped to Miss Darling before he picked up his steps. He’d told her if he didn’t want to be here with her, he wouldn’t be. So…that meant he wanted to be with her. Hadn’t he invited her to the dance hall when she would have left him for the night? Now, she’d invited Harper—and he wasn’t angry.
He hadn’t taken hold of her hand again and looked down at his shoes while they walked. “I don’t think you should go about telling how you hear my eyes speaking for me. These people will think you peculiar.”
“Please,” she huffed and bunched up her lips, making Gray think about kissing her. He averted his gaze when hers turned to him. “They’re the peculiar ones,” she continued. “Their heads are as dull as their hearts. They look at art in the flesh and they see something sordid and scandalous. It’s their thoughts which are odd and peculiar.”
While she went on, he didn’t look at her. He wanted to. It took every ounce of strength he possessed not to. He ached to see the indignation play out on her pretty features. She was pretty. He wanted to look at her.
“You should stop growing so angry on my behalf. It’s very enchanting—” he looked up from his shoes, finally setting his gaze on hers—“but I have no heart for it.”
Her huge eyes opened even wider. “You have no heart for what? Who wants to enchant you? Not me. I’m just passing through.”
“As you’ve said a dozen times now,” he muttered.
“And yet you’re thinking I want toenchantyou?” she countered, giving him a look that said he was too ignorant to bother with.
“I don’t know if you want to or not,” he said, raising his voice, “but you are!”
She dipped her ocean blue gaze, and then he did too. He continued to the dance hall, not realizing she had stopped.
He felt panic rise in him like bile. What was she doing to him? Why couldn’t he stop it? He wanted to. Didn’t he? He felt a little feverish and flush, so he kept his head down when he entered the hall with her behind him.