Passionately Yours (Hellions of High Street 3)

“We’ll be fine.” For a moment, the memory of their assailants bursting out of the bushes made her pause, but she quickly shook off any trepidation. It was midday, and they were in a civilized town, not wandering down a dark, deserted country lane.

“Ready?” Leading the way, Caro stepped into the leafy puzzle.

Thayer seemed in no particular hurry, noted Alec. His former friend was sauntering slowly up the street, pausing here and there to peruse the shop windows. Swearing under his breath, he ducked into a shadowed recess so as not to be spotted.

Following the man was likely a fool’s errand, conceded Alec, but he was curious as to what he was doing here in town, and whether he was meeting anyone.

Thayer took another turn, this one into a side street.

Alec waited a few moments and then stealthily followed. As the way rounded a bend, he saw it led up to the hedge maze, a popular attraction with the visitors in Bath. There were several people buying tickets to enter through the arched opening…

A flutter of sprigged muslin caught his eye.

Including his sister and Caro.

Damnation. His heart suddenly jumped and thumped against his ribs as he saw Thayer purchase a ticket and disappear through the opening in the high yew hedges.

There was no danger, he told himself. The maze was a popular public spot. What trouble could possibly happen within its playful paths? But even as he said it, he was already imagining the diabolically twisting turns, designed to trap the unwary.

Alec hesitated. He wasn’t anxious to encounter Caro again, not with the memory of their recent kiss still burning on his lips. She had ignited all sorts of wild desires that he had meant to keep locked safely away.

Danger, danger, danger.

The warning echoed against his skull. But alas, at the present moment, danger took many guises, and he couldn’t afford to guess at which one was most threatening.

Quickening his steps, he paid his fee and hurried through the needle-wreathed opening.

Once inside, Alec forced himself to slow down and allow reason to reassert control over impulse. He seemed to recall reading that the key to moving correctly within a maze was to always keep touching the right-hand wall of the hedge.

But that, he realized wryly, was of little import. His sister and Caro might already be lost within the wrong turns.

With Thayer close on their heels.

He drew several deep breaths to quash the twinge of fear twisting in his gut. No harm was going to come to Isobel. She wasn’t alone…

But the memory of Caro knocked unconscious by the blow of a brute caused another sharp clench.

Resisting the urge to shout out their names, Alec plunged ahead, determined to find the two young ladies if he had to strip off every cursed needle from the devil-damned bushes.

Faster, faster. It felt like an eternity before he spotted a flicker of feminine skirts just before it was swallowed in the shadows of a turn. Breaking into a half-run, Alec skidded around the sharply angled corner.

Caro whirled around, a look of alarm spasming across her face.

Damnation—she was alone.

“Where is Isobel?” he demanded in a near-breathless voice.

“She is with Andover and Lord Tilden. We encountered them just as we entered, and as they have been here before, they offered to show us the secrets of navigating the pathways.”

Relief flooded through him, but quickly gave way to another fear. Given her fiercely adventurous spirit and utter disregard for danger, Caro Sloane was all too likely to stray into trouble. “Then what the devil are you doing, wandering around all on your own?”

Caro’s brows pinched together in a frown. “I wished to explore how the dead ends are designed.” Her mouth thinned as well. “Not, I might add, that it should be any concern of yours.”

She turned away, making a show of studying the tightly twined yew branches. “Really sir, I don’t understand why you always feel compelled to snap and snarl at me. Granted, I have many faults, but taking a simple stroll in a maze ought not elicit your ire.”

He shuffled his feet, shifting his position just a fraction. Dear God—was that a glint of tears flickering through her downcast lashes?

“My apologies,” he said gruffly. “I did not mean to snap. Or snarl. I saw the two of you enter alone and I was… concerned.”