The footsteps walked past the library.
Paused.
And then came back.
Matthew stood in the doorway with a perturbed expression. “There you are, Reeves! I’ve been looking everywhere. I tried your room, I checked the stables, I—” his eyes traveled to Cassandra blankly. “Oh. You’re here too, Cassandra.”
He glanced between the two, and after a second, he let out an annoyed huff.
“Neither of you can be bothered to get dressed or do your hair? We aren’t in the country anymore, you can’t lounge in your pajamas all morning.” Matthew’s foot tapped an irritated rhythm on the floor.
“I am dressed!” Cassandra protested, suddenly needing to make that factquiteclear. Her brother gave her a once over and an unimpressed raise of a brow. The sun rising, she saw her reflection in the window, andoh no, her hair was a mess! She twisted it and pinned it up once more. Bending forward, she realized her book was upside down! Blushing furiously, she hoped Matthew hadn’t noticed, but his attention shifted back to Mr. Reeves.
“I bet she’s going on aboutplants.” Matthew shook his head.
“Feverfew,” Mr. Reeves supplied, his voice came out throaty and deep. He coughed to clear it.
“Oh. We used that for—” A rueful frown crossed Matthew’s face. “Nevermind. Come on Reeves, Mr. Edgars wants to discuss the nextchallengeover breakfast.Style,” he drawled. “I wanted to go over ourdesigns again. You really need to be around, I can’t answer everyone’s questions.”
“After you,” Mr. Reeves said. Tucking his book under his wrist, he turned to Cassandra with a wide smile, as if nothing had transpired between them. “Thank you for the lesson, Miss Cooper. It wasinformative.”
“See you at breakfast, sister,” Matthew called as they left the library, their footsteps and voices echoing down the hall.
Alone, she slammed the book shut, her heart aching with her stupidity. All of those looks at Cooper House, under the tree, the dancing, his gentleness with her, all the ways he held himself back….
She hadn’t been imagining it at all.
Hewantedher.
With shaking fingers, she touched her lips. Behind the game he made, he wanted to kiss her. If not for the interruption, he might be kissing her still. Shame flooded her in waves. If Mr. Reeves hadn’t heard Matthew’s footsteps, she would have been compromised! She couldn’t afford such recklessness! She curled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, as brick by brick she built herself back up.
He couldn’t have known. He hadsealed it.But if during the process even a single word had slipped out… with a hiccuped breath, she collected herself. No. She couldn’t let that happen again.
Shewouldn’tlet that happen again.
Cassandra stood and replaced the book on the shelf and extinguished the oil lamp.
Nothing had changed.
She still had her goal.
It didn’t mean anything.
Chapter Eleven
“—and then Baron Franklin turned to me and asked,‘where is the Captain?’”Cooper spoke through gritted teeth. “And wherewasthe Captain? Hiding out in his bedchamber!”
As if he were a lad who had missed curfew, Cooper continued to lecture him while they made their way to Seth’s bedchamber. From his tone, Cooper hadn’t had his second cup of coffee yet, but Seth had none, and his mood soured with each step away from the library. In equal measure, he was both furious and glad that Cooper had come along and interrupted him.
Furious, because there was no mistaking the desire in Cassandra’s eyes. The image of her parted lips burned into his mind. Shewantedhim to kiss her. And he would. Oh, how hewould. Absently in his pocket, he rubbed his thumb over the edges of her letter—the same thumb that had teased across her lips when she saidplease.It didn’t matter that her affections might have fallen somewhere else before, because from then on, he would make damned sure they werehis.
And glad, because he wanted to earn those affections fairly. Given the circumstance, Cooper stumbling into them was the best he could have hoped for, especially given his impeccable timing. Anyone else would have seen the two of them alone in a dimly lit library before dawn, improperly dressed, hair askew, and reached an understandably different conclusion. Cooper didn’t suspect Seth of any foul-play—hetrustedhim—and here he was on the verge of kissing Cassandrabetween the bookshelves, potentially compromising her, and that wouldn’t do.
Seth didn’t want toforceCassandra into marrying him because of a scandal and ruin his friendship with Cooper. He wanted her to choose him. The right way. He was determined to take his time and woo her properly, how she deserved. But to court her, he needed Cooper’s approval.
“Allnightfielding questions!Alone!”
Well.