Flirting with His Forbidden Lady--A Regency Family is Reunited by Laura Martin (good novels to read txt) 📕

very difficult decisions. If he didn’t say he loved her, if he said instead he cared for her, desired her, she knew her heart would break just a little. There wasn’t a perfect solution.

Josh quietened all her concerns by gently taking her hand and leading her to a spot where the sand met the grass behind. They sat, their legs pressed together, their backs to the cliffs and looking out to the sea. It was a secluded spot and only someone standing on the very edge of the cliff above would be able to see them.

‘I promised myself I wouldn’t do this today, that this would be about enjoying ourselves, but I think I need to tell you how I feel.’ He took her hand and Beth had to work on controlling her breathing, forcing herself to inhale and exhale in rhythm as she waited for his words. ‘I love you, Beth. I’ve loved you these past few weeks but I was too much of a fool to see it. I couldn’t admit it to myself, couldn’t acknowledge how much you’ve come to mean to me.’

Beth’s smile was instantaneous and her heart soared. He loved her. Whatever came next, whatever difficult decisions they had to make, he loved her.

‘I honestly never thought I would fall in love. I’ve spent much of my adult life avoiding getting too close to people, worrying I might lose them like I lost my parents, like I lost Leo.’

She placed her hand on his and he smiled at her, pulled back from the melancholy.

‘There have been so many obstacles, so many reasons I’ve told myself not to fall for you, but I just haven’t been able to help myself, Beth.’

‘I feel the same,’ she said quietly, biting her lip. This shouldn’t really be happening. They needed to be sensible about the future, about their different lives and what was expected of them. Mutual declarations of love weren’t going to be helpful if they had to go their separate ways in a few weeks.

‘I don’t think you understand,’ Josh said, gripping her hand tighter. ‘I love you so much I burn for you when we’re not together. The idea of being a single county away makes me feel bereft, let alone half a world.’

She remained silent, waiting to hear what he said next, knowing that she felt the same.

‘I love Leo, but the thought of you becoming his wife makes me feel sick. Not because he would mistreat you, not because you would be bad for him, but because I want you all to myself.’ He ran a hand through his hair, his face serious now. ‘I want you to be mine, only mine, for the rest of time.’

‘I want that too.’ They might want it but Beth knew desiring something wasn’t always enough. ‘I love you too, Josh. I love every last thing about you.’ She was about to say more but he kissed her, a kiss full of promise and expectation but Beth still felt the uncertainty dragging at her stomach.

‘I love you, you love me,’ he said as they broke apart. ‘The rest is just practicalities.’

She didn’t say anything, her head still reeling from his declaration and the half-formed hope that maybe, just maybe, everything might work out.

‘I promise I will make this work for us,’ he said quietly. ‘Just give me a little while to figure it all out in my head.’

Beth knew she should protest, insist they work it out together, but she was tired of trying to come up with solutions to save her family and willing to let Josh try for once. If he didn’t manage anything suitable they could put their heads together then.

‘While I’m thinking do you fancy a swim?’

‘A swim?’ Beth laughed. It was warm, but it wasn’t swimming weather.

‘It’s a beautiful day, why not?’

‘It’ll be freezing. It’s not like your Indian Ocean.’

‘How cold can it really be?’ He pulled her to her feet and she watched in amazement as he began to shed his clothes, dropping his jacket to the ground and pulling his shirt up over his head. Beth found she couldn’t look away, her eyes locked on his skin as he placed his shirt on top of his discarded jacket. The heat rose from her core to her skin as he tucked a hand into his waistband and began to loosen his trousers.

‘You’re going in naked?’

‘It’s not as though there is anyone else around to see us.’

‘Someone could see from the cliffs.’

‘Then run fast into the water.’ He held her eye as he unfastened his trousers and stepped out of them, then turned and walked briskly to the sea. She watched as he took three great strides into the water and then dived under a wave, surfacing on the other side. ‘It’s barely even chilly.’

Beth glanced at the empty clifftop and then back to where Josh was kicking his legs on his back in the water. She wanted to throw caution to the wind, then strip down and follow him into the sea. To entwine her body with his and decide once and for all that she was going to be his.

All the years of conforming, of following the rules, of doing what she was told flashed in front of her and before she had even consciously made the decision to change she felt her fingers tugging at her dress, loosening it enough to wriggle out of. She was still clad in her chemise and petticoats, although the petticoats quickly followed the dress onto the pile of clothes discarded on the sand. Her chemise she kept on, knowing it would turn transparent in the water but unable to shed the last of her protective layers.

Josh swam towards her as she dipped a toe in the sea, rising from the waves like something out of a Greek epic. It was fresh and she had to brace herself to not run up the beach.

He advanced, holding out a hand, and Beth couldn’t help but rake