The air left Jane’s body in a whoosh. Stunningly beautiful? Dreamed about it? Her hands trembled in her lap where she’d resumed the plucking of her skirts. Perfect. Now in addition to her legs, her hands were trembling. This had to be the precursor to apoplexy. His words reverberated throughout her body. Dreamed about it since. Oh, God. She’d dreamed about it too.

Stunningly beautiful. Those two words played in Jane’s head like a song. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. She opened it and closed it once more.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself, Upton,” she finally managed. “You’ve done the impossible. You’ve rendered me speechless. What do you think of that?”

He turned his head and flashed her a grin. “That is a good start, but the more serious question is, what are we going to do about the fact that we kissed each other? I must confess, I enjoyed it immensely. I know you did too. You wouldn’t let me stop, after all. So the more important question is … when are we going to do it again?”

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Garrett arrived at the stables the next morning exactly as planned. It was bloody early for an outing, but he’d agreed to this at dinner last night when Cassandra had suggested they all go for a ride. A dozen or so of the party guests were already wandering around the stables by the time he strolled into the large building.

There had been no nightmares last night. He hadn’t slept. Instead, he’d spent the night thinking about his confrontation with Jane. What had he expected to come of it? He couldn’t answer that. He’d only known he had to confront her to see if he could detect any sign of her supposed love for him. He’d seen nothing other than shock, which made him wonder if it were true.

Garrett admired Jane for matter-of-factly admitting to being Lady Blue. She hadn’t said anything when he’d asked her when they would do it again. He’d been half jesting, half trying to determine if she did, indeed, have strong feelings for him. Jane had announced she had to get to bed and then she’d nearly flown from the room. Frankly, the entire evening had left Garrett more confused than before.

Jane was in the stables already. She stood with Cassandra and Lucy, wearing a blue riding habit that did little for her figure. It didn’t matter. Her figure was burned in his brain.

A loud laugh drew his attention to the right. Mrs. Langford came strolling toward him. “Mr. Upton, there you are.”