Unrequited Love

“I doubt he has told her, either.” Sian didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t think her mother and father had a very close relationship. “I am sorry. I know I shouldn’t talk to you in this way. I wouldn’t usually. It is just that-”

“I am glad you have,” Ryan whispered softly.

When their gazes met again, Ryan smiled gently at her. She blinked at him and began to smile back but was prevented from saying anything by the arrival of Cedrick, who finally reached them.

“There you are, darling,” he gasped with a familiarity that made Sian grit her teeth.

“Darling?” she repeated dully.

“I have been trying to catch up with you. Your father asked me to escort you so we could have a little time alone together. Isn’t that nice?”

Sian looked so helplessly at Ryan that he couldn

’t just bid them both goodbye and go on his way, even though he had plenty of things to do that morning and not much time to do them in. The last thing he was going to do was leave Sian with her ‘suitor’. If there was one thing he knew it was that if Arthur and Wilhelmina had their way, Sian was going to have Cedrick as a suitor whether she liked it or not.

Over my dead body.

“I was just about to escort her,” Ryan answered.

“But-”

With barely a look at Cedrick, Ryan held a gentlemanly elbow out to Sian. “Shall we?”

Sian blinked at him but was smiling as she took his pro-offered arm and fell into step beside him.

“I don’t believe we have been introduced,” Cedrick began, looking hesitantly between Sian and Ryan. His gaze fell to their entwined arms. “I didn’t realise that you had a secret assignation.”

“A secret-” Sian’s eyes flashed angrily.

“We have a long-standing acquaintance, don’t we?” Ryan asked, his tone as low and intimate as the proprietary way he was smiling lovingly into Sian’s eyes.

“We have lived next to each other for many years,” Sian agreed, happy to play along.

It was wonderful to be the object of Ryan’s attention, even if it was a show put on for Cedrick’s benefit.

It was clear that Cedrick was far from pleased to have a rival for her affection. The younger, much smaller man glared at Ryan with a pomposity that made him look like a ruffled goose. Sian looked from one man to the other and marvelled at how two of the same species could be so completely different.

Cedrick’s demeanour could only be described as weak, and that wasn’t only his rather small stature. His complexion was as pale as his straw-blonde hair and was not helped any by the pale blue of his eyes, which were spiteful rather than mesmerising. In comparison, Ryan was tall, broad shouldered, with auburn hair that matched his dark blue eyes to perfection. His tanned complexion and raw masculinity were evident in the somewhat arrogant tilt to his chin and the rakish look that matured his handsome countenance.

Only what he has to smile about now is anybody’s guess.

She suspected it was because he found it amusing that the only suitor who could be found for her looked like Cedrick. It was embarrassing, and only made her hate Cedrick more.

It isn’t his fault I find him unappealing.

“Wilhelmina doesn’t like you going out on your own. You should know that,” Cedrick chided her as if he had every right to do so.

“Oh? I wasn’t aware that she had any influence on my actions,” Sian replied pertly.

“But I am completely trustworthy,” Ryan assured him.

“Really? A secret assignation is not the trustworthy conduct of any reputable gentleman,” Cedrick intoned with a pompous sniff.

“A secret assignation?” Ryan asked. His gaze fell to Sian, who looked so horrified that he had to smile. “I don’t believe stopping to chat with one’s neighbour could ever be considered a secret assignation. However, I can think of worse things to be accused of.”

“This is not a secret assignation,” Sian bit out, more embarrassed than ever. Her glare at Cedrick did nothing to put him off his rather possessive behaviour.

“I insist we go back to the house at once.”