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To value her

To see her One final tiht smile on her face "Why would I forfeit when I am so very close to my bookshop?" Triumph flared at his surprise He didn’t think she would do it, and so she returned to the open door of the carriage, reaching in to collect her paltry things

Setting her basket at her feet, she sh you’ve been riding in that carriage for twenty-four hours"

She scowled up at hiht "I shouldn’t have asked you"

He stepped forward and raised a hand to her face, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, the touch sending a thrill through her A thrill she tried to ignore, even when his thu away soered at her jaw, tilting her face up to his, and she felt her cheeks war ain Long enough for her to wish he would kiss her again There, next to the Mossband town greensward in full view of anyone who cared to look

"Do not forget to keep your wound clean"

If she’d wagered a thousand pounds, she would not have guessed that he’d say that Her breath caught in her chest at the strange, caring instruction "I shan’t" She lifted the basket as unnecessary proof He nodded and stepped away, and she felt the loss of his touch keenly Disliked it Grasped for so else to say, unready to be rid of hie, you know" It was an odd thing to say, but true, and that hat mattered, she supposed

"I know that now," he said, a little smile on his handsome face There was a dimple there, in the dark stubble of his unshaved beard She itched to touch it

Instead, she said, "Thank you For everything"

"You’re welcome, Sophie"

And that was that She nodded once "Good-bye, then," she said, disliking the words

"Good luck," he replied She disliked those words more

With a deep breath, she crossed the street to the bakery, telling herself that the disco at all to do with turning her back on Kingscote, Marquess of Eversley The man hom she’d spent the better part of the last week

After all, they didn’t even like each other

She pushed the door to the bakery open, a little bell above the door tinkling happily, announcing the heat of the ovens, and the s her mouth water The counters were empty of food, as it was too early for passersby, and it took her a ht

"I’ for sale just yet--" Robbie began, coreat mouth of the brick oven that sat at the center of the rooentle--exactly as she remembered "Sophie?"

He remembered her

Her chest constricted with an emotion she could not ime on her tongue Unfamiliar Incorrect

He came out from around the counter, tall and broad in his shirtsleeves, his still-blond hair tied back in a queue, his brown eyes filled with laughter "We didn’t knohat became of you! I mean, we read the papers, but you never returned!"

He reached for her then, and she stepped back, surprised by his forwardness He stilled, sensing the aardness "I’et that you’re a lady now"

The words placed distance between the her apart She shook her head "No," she said "It’s only--you surprised me"

"I’m the one who is surprised, I assure you" He looked around the shop, searching for so it "I don’t have a coat"

He was embarrassed of his shirtsleeves, and she hated herself forhim feel that way She lifted a hand "No, don’t worry about that"

He looked away, and silence fell between them "It’s the crack of dawn," he said

"I just arrived"