Dair managed to lure Emma over to his quilt and he surreptitiously probed her opinions about various methods of discipline for children. Her answers to his questions suggested she was frugal, but not a skinflint; generous, but not extravagant; disciplined, but not heavy-handed. The more he learned, the more he liked. Emma Tate just might be perfect. In more ways than one.
He hadn’t been lying when he said she intrigued him. Dair found her spirit delightful and her mind refreshing. Her beauty made him want. He’d love to lay her back against the ground and continue his investigation of Emma Tate in a much more intimate manner. Dair imagined tasting her, baring her breasts, running his hands and mouth over all her generous curves. He wanted her naked beneath the afternoon sun. Naked beneath him. Her legs—undoubtedly long and shapely—wrapped around his waist.
Unfortunately, the presence of little Caroline thwarted the realization of those desires. However, a kiss would not be amiss, would it?
Dair was just about ready to make his move when Emma’s sister disrupted the idyllic afternoon. The two sisters moved away seeking privacy for their conversation, not knowing Dair had hearing like a hawk. He eavesdropped subtly.
Apparently, Jake had made progress because Kat knew he’d seen through her disguise. She wanted to run. Emma…dear, darling Emma…refused.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Kat declared in a shrill tone. “It’s more than a simple flirtation. That man has turned your head!”
Excellent news, Dair thought.
“I don’t know what it is, Kat,” Emma said, her tone turning wistful. “He’s…fun. I’m having fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any fun. I think I need it.”
While Dair digested that bit of information, the women moved a bit farther away, and he could no longer make out their words. He rolled to his feet and returned to skipping rocks, shifting closer to the sisters in time to hear Kat say, “Please, Emma. We’re not children anymore. Don’t you think you’re too old to be talking that way?”
“Too old? Too old!”
Dair abandoned any effort at pretense and stared openly when he saw fire burn in Emma’s eyes and color stain her cheeks. She looked like an avenging angel, a warrior goddess. By God, she made a man ache.
She gave her head a toss, braced her hands on her hips and declared, “Maybe I
am
too old. Maybe I’m just old and tired. Tired of always being Emma the poor widow, Emma the dutiful daughter, Emma the supportive sister. Maybe I just want to be a flesh and blood woman. Maybe I just want to be
Emma!
”
Emma the adventurer, I think.
How lucky for me.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I’
M SO SORRY
,” E
MMA
said the following day as she gently wiped a smear of blood from Dair’s face, the result of a minor injury that Kat—now sans disguise—had caused inadvertently. He sat at a table in the kitchen, Emma standing between his spread legs, a wet dish towel in her right hand. “My sister is, well, it’s difficult to explain. Mr. Kimball sets off her temper.”
His brows winged up. “That was temper?”
“Yes, or something.” Emma set the dishcloth aside, then placed an ice pack against his skin. “What you don’t know is how wonderful it is to see her enthused about something.”
“That was enthused?”
Emma couldn’t help but laugh at his incredulous tone. “That was alive. My sister hasn’t been that way since her daughter died. Losing Susie just about destroyed her, but this trip has eased things, I believe. I think Kat might finally be ready.”
Dair shifted the ice away. “I’m fine, Emma. It doesn’t hurt. Now, what is it you think your sister might be ready for?”
Emma glanced toward the window and in her mind’s eye, saw Kat’s shenanigans as she’d pitched a ball to Jake Kimball. In those moments, her sister had literally glowed. “I think she’s ready to live again. When you lose someone you love, it takes time.”
He nodded, then reached for her hand. Emma’s heart skipped a beat as he rose and, towering above her, stared down into her eyes. He traced the curve of her cheek with the roughened pad of his thumb and spoke in an aged-whiskey voice, “And what about you, Emma?”
She licked her lips. “Me?”
“Are
you
ready to live again?”
The question hung suspended on the air like a spider’s silken web. This was no simple question and she knew it. If she said yes, he’d kiss her. She could see it in his eyes.
Emma sucked in a breath, swallowed hard. “Yes, I do believe I am.”
She swayed toward him, her eyelids drifting downward. But he surprised her by taking a step back. “Then come with me, Emma. Let me show you the pleasures to be found at Chatham Park.”
Oh, my.
Keeping her hand in his, Dair led her from the kitchen and out of the house. She wondered where he was taking her. To the stables for a ride to an isolated part of the estate, perhaps? Or maybe back to the fish pond they’d visited yesterday? Surely not to the lawn where the rest of the visitors gathered. He’d take her somewhere private, wouldn’t he?
Dair led Emma to the opening of the garden maze.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, eyeing the roses and honeysuckle surrounding the rectangular-shaped structure. And definitely private. Extremely private. Was she really going to do this? Step into a maze with this man? Alone?
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. Emma’s knees went watery. Yes. She was really going to do this.
Oh my oh my oh my.
She swallowed her misgivings and smiled. “The maze is huge, too. I can see from my bedroom window.”
“It covers almost two acres. It’s easy to get lost inside, Emma. Are you certain you’re up to my game?”
Game? Her blood humming, the adventurous Emma arched a brow. “Just what is your game, sir?”
He smiled, and Emma was reminded of one of his choices of snow globe: the wolf. “It’s a contest, of course. If you can find your way to the Greek temple replica at the center of the northern section of the maze you will win the prize.”
“What prize?”
“Hmm…how about your choice of snow globe?”
This was Jake Kimball’s home, not Dair MacRae’s. “Are they yours to give away?”
“In this instance, yes.”
It was a curious remark, but before she could question him further, he distracted her with a caveat to his contest. “Of course, we shall need a time limit or you may be wandering this maze until dark. Shall we say…fifteen minutes?”
Emma frowned. “But it’s a two-acre maze.”
“I’ll give you hints whenever you request. However, such hints don’t come free.”
“Oh?” Her gaze fastened on his mouth. “And exactly what do they cost?”
“That depends on how lost you are, my dear.” She narrowed her eyes and he laughed. “My price will be a kiss.”
She circled her mouth with her tongue. “That’s a very bold suggestion, Mr. MacRae.”
“I’m a bold man, Mrs. Tate. The question before us is how bold a woman are you?”
Emma’s pulse sped up. Her mouth went dry. An idyllic garden. He was the serpent. She was the tempted. Tempted with a capital T. If she did this, if she threw away all her good sense and embraced her inner Menace, then she couldn’t later cry foul or indulge in regrets or remorse.
Remorse? The only remorse she’d have is if he didn’t kiss her. Touch her. Hold her.
This was her chance. Here in England so far from home, she could indulge herself. She could do something shocking and no one need ever know. She could throw off the mantle of being Widow Tate and be a Menace again. Be Emma. The old Emma. The Emma who wasn’t boring, but fun and exciting and…wicked. The Emma who wasn’t about to turn thirty with no man, no babies, no life.
Emma didn’t want to be selfish, but right here, right now, she couldn’t help it. She was glad Mari had found her happy ending. She mourned for Kat’s horrific loss. But right now, as her birthday roared toward her, she wanted to worry about herself for a change. She wanted to end the boredom. Pull a true McBride Menace prank. She wanted to rob another train or steal another horse or…
Or walk into the garden maze with a dangerous man.
“Emma?”
What was it about this man in particular? Why was she like a moth to his flame? He was nothing like Casey—lighthearted of manner and demeanor. Dair MacRae was dark and tempting and represented everything that she was not. Her father would detest him on sight. She knew next to nothing about him. Yet, there was something in his eyes. Something wild and excited. Something wicked.
Something wicked. Yes, that’s what she couldn’t resist.
Emma sucked in a deep breath, then said, “I’m a McBride Menace, sir. I was born bold.”
A devilish twinkle lit those silver eyes. He extended his hand, gesturing for her to precede him into the maze. Emma stepped forward and excitement sizzled through her.
It was like another world. The scent of honeysuckle hung heavy on the air. A sparrow flitted from its perch atop an elaborate iron bench while a squirrel scampered along the path. “Should I follow him?” Emma asked.
“Is that a request for a hint?”
Now that she’d given herself permission to be bad, the need to play—to tease him and tantalize him and make him ache with wanting—rose within her. “Hmm…perhaps.”
He took a step toward her.
She placed her hand against his chest and pushed gently. “Perhaps not.”
“Hmm.” He clasped his hands behind his back, the twinkle in his eyes deepening to impure amusement.
Emma lifted her chin and boldly chose the path to her left, purposely taking big steps that caused her hips to swing. A few steps later, the path dead-ended.
Dair made a show of checking his watch, and Emma’s competitive nature was sparked. She wanted her kiss—oh, she truly did. However, McBride Menaces never backed down from a challenge.
She lifted her hem and retraced her steps. Her second try appeared more successful. She sent him a sly smile and sashayed forward. Dair sauntered behind her, whistling.
Then Emma hit another dead end. Hmm. Maybe now?
But when she turned, he checked his watch again.
No, not now. Emma turned around and walked past him, brushing up against him as she turned a corner, into another hedge wall.
Drat.
“Let me help you, Emma.”
He was staring at her mouth, his eyes narrowed and intense. Hot.
Now,
whispered the Menace in her.
Let him help you. You know you want it.
“Which way do I go, Dair?”
He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles one by one, staring deeply into her eyes as he did so. Anticipation sizzled through her. Then he turned her hand over and his lips caressed the very center of her palm. “Turn left, Texas.”
Then, he dropped her hand and stepped away.
Emma’s spine stiffened.
Aha. So that’s his game, is it? He thinks to tease me, too. Well, he’s got another think coming, doesn’t he? Two of us are playing here, and I always play to win
.
She slowly licked her lips. “Well, then. Left it is.”
Was that a chuckle she heard from the maddening man?
In less than a minute, she found her way blocked once again. This time she didn’t hesitate. “Right or left?”
Again, he brought her hand to his lips, kissed her knuckles, then her palm. This time, though, he went a little farther. With clever fingers, he loosened the buttons at the cuff of her sleeve. Emma shivered as his lips found the sensitive skin at the inside of her wrist. She shuddered when his teeth tenderly scraped her skin. “Right.”
That’s more like it.
When he stepped back, she lifted the hand he’d kissed to her chest where she played with the ribbon at her collar. As expected, his eyes followed her every movement. Emma grinned with satisfaction as she took the right turn he’d indicated to continue through the maze, her awareness of the man walking a half step behind her increasing as the seconds ticked by. He moved with an animal’s grace.
Apparently, she made some good choices because she went for quite a ways before encountering another dead end. Her heartbeat racing, she turned to Dair. “Help?”
Slowly, the wolf smile stretched across his face. The wicked glint in his eyes went sharper. This time he took her left hand and repeated his previous attentions, tugging up her sleeve to expose her arm, trailing his mouth up to the inside of her elbow. His sandalwood scent enveloped her and gentle nibbles sent little strikes of lightning from her arm to her womb. “This is one of the trickier places in the maze. The price to pay is higher.”
He repeated the exact same motions with the exact same speed—deliciously slow—on her left hand and arm. By the time he released her and stepped back, Emma was a puddle. “To find your way from here, you must turn right, then immediately, right again.”
Wrong. She wanted so badly to go left.
She was afraid she’d reach the Greek temple too soon.
However, she knew better than to be so obvious, so she followed his directions. Moments later, she found her way blocked in a cozy little alcove adorned with a pretty iron bench and planters overflowing with a rainbow of flowers. “Foiled again,” Emma declared, trying to hide her delight. She eyed the bench, then asked, “May I request you suspend the ticking clock while we rest our feet a moment?”
“Hmm.” The light in his eyes turned knowing. “I guess an exception to the rules is in order.”
Emma took a seat. Dair sat beside her, closer than was proper. The way he focused his attention on her without wavering wasn’t exactly proper, either. But it sure was flattering. Intriguing. Stimulating.
“So.” Emma cleared her throat. “How far to the goal?”
He studied her with a deliberate gaze. “Oh, we’ve quite a way to go yet.”
“I see.” She smoothed her skirt, then played with the lace trim on her bodice. “So I won’t win the prize?”
“I wouldn’t give up yet. Perhaps I could offer you more extensive clues.”
“For a more extensive price?”
“You catch on fast, don’t you?”
Emma wondered where his lips would wander next. Would he finally find her mouth and give her the kiss she craved? Or would he discover other areas to tease?