‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling in acknowledgement of the compliment.
Then he noticed just how sensual the curve of her mouth was. He itched to kiss her, but he managed to hold himself back. Just. ‘Ready to go?’ he asked, hoping that his voice didn’t sound as croaky to her as it did to him.
‘Sure.’
He kept the conversation light as he drove Grace to the stately home on the edge of London. Then she saw the banners on the wrought iron fence. ‘A classical music and fireworks spectacular? We’re actually going to this, right now?’
‘You did tell me this sort of thing was on your bucket list,’ he pointed out, enjoying the fact that her excitement had sounded in her voice.
‘I know, and this is utterly wonderful—but telling you the sort of thing I’d love to do really doesn’t mean that I expect you to actually take me to all my dream places,’ she said, her face a mixture of delight and guilt.
‘But isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you sweep someone off their feet? Take them to their dream places?’ he asked.
‘Maybe.’ She bit her lip. ‘And that banner says it’s sold out.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Don’t tell me.’ Her voice was dry. ‘You called in a favour because you did some work for the people who live here?’
He laughed. ‘No. Actually I got our tickets from one of those “get me in at the last minute” sites.’
‘What? But they always put a massive mark-up on ticket prices!’ She sounded horrified. ‘Roland, I need to reimburse you for my ticket.’
He groaned as he followed the car park attendants’ direction to a space on the grass. ‘Grace, I know you like to be independent, and I appreciate the offer, but you’re supposed to be being swept off your feet. Right now, it seems to me that you have both feet very firmly on the ground, so I’m failing miserably.’
She flushed. ‘In other words, I’m being an ungrateful brat.’
‘No—just a bit difficult,’ he said.
‘You did tell me that you wanted me to be awkward with you, so you could practise your dating skills on being smooth,’ she reminded him.
‘Are you telling me you’re being difficult on purpose?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘So how do I know when you’re acting and when you’re not?’
She spread her hands. ‘You tell me.’
He resisted the urge to kiss her until she was breathless—mainly because he knew he’d end up in a similar state, with his head in a spin. Instead, he said, ‘Let’s go and get set up.’ And then maybe the fresh air would help bring him back to his senses. This was meant to be practice dating, not the real thing. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want to be let down—and he couldn’t trust himself not to repeat his mistakes and let her down.
* * *
Roland took a picnic blanket, umbrella, two small collapsible chairs and the wicker picnic hamper from the back of the car.
‘What can I carry?’ Grace asked.
‘Nothing. It’s fine.’
‘It isn’t fine at all. You’re totally laden—and there’s a big difference between being swept off your feet and being a poor, helpless female who can’t carry anything in case she breaks a fingernail.’
He laughed and she narrowed her eyes at him. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘A week ago, I would’ve said you were exactly that type.’
‘Helpless and pathetic? Well, thank you very much.’ She scowled at him.
He winced. ‘Grace, I’ve already told you that I know how much I misjudged you. Though this is particularly bad timing.’
‘How do you mean?’ she asked.
‘Because you’re right,’ he said. ‘I’m fully laden. I’ll have to put something down before I can kiss you to say I’m sorry for getting you so wrong.’
‘You want to kiss me?’
He moistened his lower lip. ‘Firstly to say sorry. And then because...’
Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Because what?’
He waited until she met his gaze. ‘To say I like you.’
And even though they were outdoors, standing in lush parkland, it felt as if there wasn’t enough room to breathe.
‘I like you, too,’ she whispered. Even though she hadn’t expected to. And even though she really didn’t want to feel this way about him. She wanted to be independent. She couldn’t possibly fall for someone this quickly. Especially someone who’d made a deal with her that he’d sweep her off her feet in exchange for her brushing up his dating skills—because she knew that everything he was saying to her was dating practice, not for real.