"Do not fret, Miss Leighton. My mechanic will have it repaired." Leo's voice was gentle, soothing. "Motorcars break down. The bloody things are unpredictable. If your father is upset, it won't be because of anything you've done."
"Yes, but-"
Without so much as another word, he bent his head. When their mouths were an inch apart, he captured her gaze, and something wild and hot passed between them as he slanted his mouth over hers. All worries and fears were destroyed in the wake of pleasure and fire.
Heat and light burned through at that single kiss, like tender sparks shooting through the night over a healthy fire. A little moan escaped her as he teased her mouth open with his tongue. One of his hands grasped her hip, holding her firm between him and the tree as he pressed against her. The heady aroma of autumn leaves, leather, and sandalwood sent her senses spinning.
With gentle kisses and a wicked tongue, he taught her all the ways she'd longed to kiss. It was the sort of kiss the upstairs maids whispered about, the kind that made a woman lose her head … and her heart.
This is a terrible idea. I should stop him … but … The will to break the kiss faded like morning mist. Once upon a time, there had been nothing more she had wanted in her life, a kiss from her sunny-haired prince. But she'd changed; she'd grown up and a man's kiss shouldn't have been so potent that it cast a spell over her. Yet, Leo's kiss was exactly that, a spell that bound her to him in a way she feared would break her heart.
He nipped her lips, and she felt his mouth curve into a smile against hers before he finally drew back. His eyes were dark with passion, and his breathing was rough and warm against her face. Their bodies were so close, the intimacy making her feel like there was nothing outside of them in that moment.
"Why do I have the feeling you are going to be trouble, Miss Leighton?" Leo chuckled, suddenly drawing a fingertip down her nose and tapping it lightly, the way he had so often all those years ago.
"Trouble?" she echoed faintly. Still shaken by her first kiss and the shivery warmth spreading through her limbs, she dared not move for fear of falling. Love was dangerous; love ruined a woman's dreams. And Leo was the one man who could tempt her into falling in love.
"Oh yes. Just when I have everything planned, you come along and remind me of why I used to be so wicked." He bent, feathered one last kiss to her lips before he took her arm in his and escorted her back to the house.
Ivy did not look at him. She felt changed. Their secret moment had awakened her and melted whatever defenses she'd thought she'd built against his charm. How was she ever going to think clearly when all she wanted to do was relive that kiss? The carefully crafted battlements around her heart quivered, trembled, the walls crumbling.
///
Oh dear …
Chapter 6
The house was a flurry of chaos. Servants rushed back and forth: luggage in footmen's arms and ladies' hats and coats carried by the upstairs maids. The high ceilings of the entryway reverberated with the voices of the guests. Leo stepped out of the way, allowing Miss Leighton to rush over to a tall, striking man with a dark mustache and olive skin. Her father, he assumed, given the similarities of their features. Certainly foreign. It was no wonder she was such an exotic beauty.
"Hampton!" A loud voice cut across the merry din, and Leo was smacked soundly on the shoulder by Owen Hadley.
"Hadley, I've never been happier to see you." The familiar face of his friend eased the tension in Leo's shoulders. He would have one ally in the midst of this social fray.
Owen laughed. "Good of your mother to invite me. I think she knew you would have need of me." He nodded toward the mixed group of men and women in the hall. Leo recognized the faces, but they were all more of his mother's friends than his. Aside from Owen, Ivy was perhaps the only person he was interested in. Had his mother done this on purpose? He'd insisted she invite Mildred and her parents for the party after he guessed her intentions, but how was he to treat both Mildred and Ivy equally during the party? His body wanted Ivy, but the rational part of his mind reminded him he needed to focus on his future bride. It was a bad predicament. One he was quite sure his mother had contrived deliberately.
Owen's eyes twinkled. "What are you thinking about? You have that look in your eyes." He leaned a shoulder against the wall, watching Leo with a piqued interest.
"My mother is scheming. I am merely trying to outmaneuver her."