So True a Love (Daughters of His Kingdom 2)

“’Tis a mystery.”

He leaned back onto the grass and rested against his elbow, nodding with mock disapproval. “So you were a wily child then?”

“Am I not wily now?”

“I should say so. And you’ve enjoyed getting your fingers messy in the kitchen ever since.”

“Aye, I have.”

He took another bite of dried apple while his gaze narrowed in thought. “I am forever grateful you shared that with me, Kitty.” Tracing her face with his eyes, the levity in his expression faltered. Warm and dark like a summer’s eve, his voice caressed. “So, the secrets of ‘Miss Katherine Campbell formerly of Boston’ begin to emerge.” Pausing, his voice grew deeper still. “And I can only pray that someday I shall understand all the mysteries that shelter in the precious center of your heart.”

Kitty’s lungs refused to take in air, then suddenly pumped as if her last breath were seconds away. Her palms grew clammy and her cheeks burned like the sun on her back. The look of desire in Nathaniel’s expression, the weight to his voice, the softness in his rugged features, all these familiar hungry expressions had lived in James Higley’s eyes, and at the time it discomfited her. But now, it thrilled... and frightened.

To keep from being consumed by the flame within, she pushed up from the grass and walked to the edge of the water, placing all her focus on the way it lapped at the toe of her shoe. Clearing her throat, she tried to remember what they’d last been talking of so she could artfully change the subject.

She licked her lips, and flooded her tone with a serenity she didn’t feel. “I figured you had already heard that story from Liza. It seems most everyone has heard it by now.”

Continuing to stare at the water, Kitty heard him rise and step near her, but she dare not look around for fear of how another longing gaze from him might melt her where she stood.

“Nay, I had not heard of it.” His voice was far too close, far too rich. “Would that I had known this endearing tale long ago.” When he spoke again his tone carried more of his hallmark teasing. “Please, I beg you. Do not tell me that even the infamous Mr. Pigley knew that story before I.”

Unable to stop it, Kitty tipped her head back as a burst of laughter erupted from her chest, grateful for the way such jesting eased the heat between them. “No, Mr. Higley has never heard that story, nor shall he.”

Peaceful silence circled. Only the sound of ducks and a few cheery birds accompanied their quiet. But the quiet was short lived and Kitty’s nerves flitted again as Nathaniel cleared his throat and began to speak. “So, does this... this Higley fellow have any hope with you?”

Startled at the intimacy of his question, Kitty flipped toward him. She stared before answering his question with one of her own. “What do you mean?”

He stared at her, one eyebrow up as if he were issuing a kind of mock reprimand. “Do not play ignorant with me.”

She’d rarely seen him so somber, and the uncomfortable sensation that burrowed in her stomach made her press her hand to her middle. “Truly, I do not know your meaning.” Why was he asking such questions? He should be teasing her, pricking her frustrations, not confusing her by alluring her well-hidden longing from its place of security.

He took a step closer, his eyes growing as brown as his jacket. “Allow me to make it clear. He’s asked you to marry him.” Nathaniel didn’t move his gaze from her face. “Will you?”

Kitty choked at the shock of his statement. Her face turned white-hot and she put a palm to her chest. “Such a question, Nathaniel.”

“Nothing one could not ask a friend.”

Aye, a friend.

That’s the way she wanted things between them. Wasn’t it?

She closed her eyes. No. ‘Twas not the way she wanted it, but it was the way things would be between them, no matter how her heart tried to nourish the growing bloom of something more beautiful.

Reality settled upon her and she struggled to tamp down the hurt that billowed in her chest. Looking away, she sorted through her jumble of feelings but only became more disjointed. One moment he looked as if he wanted her as a man wants a woman, the next he spoke to her as a friend?

She exhaled through tight lips. “I suppose love ought to be a deciding factor.”

Nathaniel looked out over the water and shifted his weight. His mouth opened and closed several times until finally he stopped his fidgeting and turned to face her, binding her motionless.

His warm gaze cloaked her like the very sun that shown through the canopy of leaves. “Are you in love with him, Kitty?” His low voice rumbled with a kind of desire that turned Kitty’s insides to a puddle.

Why are you asking? A quick answer somehow made its way to her mouth. “Why would I tell you?” The cut in her voice came out sharper than she intended, but the protective shield with which she attempted to protect her heart had rusted clear through.

Nathaniel looked at his feet a moment before returning his face to hers. “Does that mean you are?”

Exasperated, Kitty stomped her foot. “Stop asking me—”

“’Tis only a simple question.”