More to the point, Tommy didn’t wish to endure another day without Philippa. Then again, her presence had led to kissing—the highlight of the adventure—and the kissing had led to almost ruining the entire mission. If she’d let that happen, there wouldn’t have been any future kisses.

The carriage pulled to a stop beside the Wynchesters’ home. Jacob handed off the reins and opened the door to take possession of Lord Fluffinghop.

Graham waited for Tommy and Philippa to exit, and then entered their home not through a door, but by scaling the rear wall.

As soon as they entered the house, Philippa turned to Tommy and took a deep breath.

“I must apologize,” she said. “My actions—”

“Your actions?” Tommy interrupted humorlessly. “I am the one who owes you an apology. I have never been less a Wynchester than the moment I allowed a child to make off with the thing I ought to be protecting. If it hadn’t been for your quick thinking—”

“I finally stopped thinking,” Philippa said. “All I do is think, and it gets me nowhere. Thinking is what kept me away from you, when all I want is to be back in your arms.”

“When you…what?” Tommy stammered. Her chest lightened.

“I’ll belong to some lord by the end of the season,” Philippa said. “But until then, I don’t want to waste a minute more of the time we do have together.”

“W-what?” Tommy said again, even less elegantly. “You do want me?”

“Is it not obvious?” Philippa’s expression was wry. “It wasn’t to me. Not at first. That said, I’ve come across enough Sapphic literature to imagine sexual female relationships—”

“You have?” Clearly Tommy had been attending all the wrong reading circles.

“I have now. I researched the topic after I met you. All my life I believed I could not feel physical attraction because I had never felt that way about a man. I could become aroused…er…on my own…” Her face went bright red.

Tommy touched Philippa’s fingers.

Philippa took her hand and held on tight. “I got to know you and trust you. The closer we became, the more…fluttery I felt inside. Perhaps I needed to feel connected to you and trust you before I could relax and unlock my desire. It’s not that I don’t ‘mind’ that you can be both a man and a woman. I like that about you. You’re the first puzzle piece that fits. My feelings are real. I’m glad to have found them.”