Ruin Me Please (41 page)

“Oh for goodness sakes, Durham
, i
f you want to walk with Freya
we are certainly not g
o
ing
to stop you.
”  Parker laughed.
 
“I can’t
believe that you
were able to hold the announc
e
ment in for
so long
,
”
Parker s
aid
, slapping
him on the back.
 

“Well done,”
Seymo
ur congratulated
with a handshake.
 

All the
women
knew of course and they
were chattering away.

“I have sent a letter home to my parents
,
”
Freya informed
.  H
er eyes
glowed excitedly in
anticipation.  “They will be thrilled that they need only concern themselves with two daug
h
ters now instead of three
for
next
S
eason
.”  She laughed gaily.  “Father always complained about the e
x
pense of a S
eason
anyway
.”

“It is all so wonderful
.
”  Piper smiled brightly.  “Have you thought about
where you are going to marry?”

“I am sure father will expect me to marry at Kettering.”  A breathy sigh escaped her.  “You remem
ber our chapel Poppy?  Isn’t it
beautiful
a beautiful setting for a wedding
?
”  She
returned Piper’s bright
smile
with one of her own
.  “We plan to marry before the summer is out.”

“I am beyond excited
,
” Poppy
cried
.
“We will have so much fun planning your wedding
.
  That is, if your mother gives us any say
.
”

“See
,
” Seymour
glanc
ed
towards the girls
,
“
i
ncessant chattering
.
”
H
e elbowed
Declan again
.  “Aren’t you glad that I insisted you have that whiskey?”

Declan chuckled.  “Well
,
at least we can have no doubt that they are enjoying the
m
selves.”  Glancing at Poppy, he found her eyes gazing back at him.  He grinned and cocked his eyebrow.  She smiled brilliantly back and playfully raised her eyebrow
s
in response. 
T
h
ro
w
ing back his head, he
laughed.

Seymour smiled
.
“
I think you have met your match finally
,
Hawk
,
”
l
aughter
filled
his voice.  “Who would have thought, Ash’s little sister
.”
 
He shook
his head.  “I do
n’t
think you have a thing to worry about, old man.” 
He slapped
Declan on the back.  “She seems equally i
n
fatuated wit
h you.” 
He whistled
a happy tune. 
“Love is definitely in the air
this su
m
mer
.
”

Declan’s eyes glittered in the sunshine. 
Dash it all!
  With a vibrant
smile,
he turned to Seymour, slapping him on the back.  “I for one d
on’t
know what I am doing with you
when a
beautiful woman is
beckoning
so obviously from afar
.
”  Turning, he trotted after Poppy.

“I do say, Ash,
” Seymour
c
alled over his shoulder.  “I
believe we
might
see two we
d
dings this summer
.  God help us
.
”

Parker glanced over to see Declan running towards Poppy.  “You might be right for once Seymour
,
”
h
e concurred. 

“Well
,
I’ll be damned
,
Parker
,
” Peyton
said
,
looking towards Poppy
.  Her brilliant smile was a dead giveaway.

“It appears that way
,
little brother
,
”
Parker
’s
grin
remained
.

“How brilliant
, Hawk
is smitten with our little Poppy
,
” Peyton exclaimed.
“Now we’ve only one chit to worry about.”

Parker looked towards Peyton and heaved a sigh.
“
We?
”  His brow arched sardonically.

A luminous
smile brightened Poppy’s face as she watched Declan trot
towards her. 

Tilting her head, she looked up through her lashes meeting his stare.  Her face
adorably flus
hed from all the excitement and
her blue eyes sparkl
ing
impishly.

Setting Georgie on the ground
,
Poppy took
a hold of
his arm and said
, “
Lovely day for a picnic.”

He smiled at her and returned
, “
Indeed it is
.
”

She looked
up at the sky
,
continu
ing
,
“I hope the weather holds out.  A
t least until
we have finished
our picnic.”

“Yes
, I
would hate for all of
your planning to be for naught
.”

“The fresh air is divine
,
but I can smell rain coming
.” 
She wrinkled
he
r nose
delicately
sniff
ing
the air.

She twirled
a
parasol
, a
sunny yellow confection that perfectly matched her gown. 
Her head covered by
a wide-brimmed chip bonnet decorated with a profuse amount of happy da
i
sies
,
as Poppy liked to call them
, with
matching yellow ribbons
fluttering in the breeze
. 
A smile widened his mouth t
ransforming his features as he fe
ast
ed
his eyes on
her, h
e felt like a child with his face pressed up against a
storefront
window with a shiny new penny
clutched despe
r
ately in his hand
. 
“So are we going to talk about the weather all afternoon?”

“It is polite conversation.” 
He was quite splendid
,
she thought
,
especially
when his
eyes
were
alive with amusement.
 

“Poppy,
p
leas
e stop looking at me that way or I can
not be
held
responsible for my a
c
tions
.
”  He groaned
.

Poppy took a deep breath inhaling his
lovely scent,
soap and man mixed with the ou
t
doors.  It was intoxicating.  “I apologize, Declan
.
”
She glanced
discreetly over her shou
l
der to see if they were in a position to be
overheard.  “I would hate to cause you any discomfort
.”  They gazed heatedly into
each other’s eyes.

“Poppy?”

Vulnerability swirled aro
und
her;
she lifted
her eyes
inquiringly to his
.

“You are exquisite
.
 
You are
resplendent in this yellow attire, even more so than this gl
o
rious sunshin
e.”  He scanned her face raptly.  H
idden from the others by her twirling parasol and large
wide-brimmed
hat
,
h
e dipped under the brim and quickly stole a kiss from her smiling lips.

She felt herself blush at his attentions. 
“How
very
kind of you
to say
,
Your G
race
.
”
S
he smiled playfully
.  Un
consciously press
ing
herself
closer
,
feeling
her
heart beat
ing
faster.  A thoughtful look came across her face
when
looked
up
at him.

The whisper of a breeze stirr
ed
the golden curls at her nape and mold
ed
the flimsy mu
s
lin of her dress to her slender curves.  Her tiny feet
were
in the most adorable kid
half boots
he had ever seen, and he
must be completely gone to notice
such a thing.  Boots?
  His mout
h su
d
denly felt extremely dry.

Flashing he
r one o
f his charismatic smiles he blurted out
,
“I am s
tarved.
Do you know what Mrs. Hastings has packed for our picnic today?”

“Hmmm…she probably packed cold chicken, biscuits, cheese, oh and her wonderful plum cake.”  S
he glanced
up at him
.  “It’s
quite
delightful
.
”

“I definitely find one thing about Rosebriar delightful
.
” 
He gave
her a dark and potent look.  “I find everything else
only
agreeable.”  L
ook
ing
around at the lush green land and the extensive wo
ods that surrounded the park, h
e could definitely comprehend
how this held more of a draw for Poppy than the overcrowded dirty streets of London.  “
It’s a
lmost as impressive as Allin
g
ham Park
.
”
  H
e smirked.

“Well
,
I will believe that
once I see it.  There is no place as wonderful as Rosebriar, at least in
my way of thinking.”

“I hope you will be able to see it soon,” he knew he spoke cryptically.

She skipped lightly, trying
to keep up with his long striding steps.  Georgie ambled quic
k
ly after them.  “
Are
we racing?”  Poppy asked.  “What is our prize to be
,
if we are the first to the lake
?
”  Poppy teased.

Laughing, he slowed down.  Leaning
towards her in order to whisper,
he lifted his brow
,
“Perhaps another kiss?”

Her steps
faltered
t
he feel of Declan’s fingertips on her nape sent shivers
all the way
to her toes
.  She gurgled with laughter.  N
ot an artificial sound,
but full-bodied and animated.

“Well,
m
y lord
,
”
s
he
said,
look
ing
flirtatiously through her lashes
.
“B
y all means please
,
let us
hurry
.
  I would hate for someone else to steal my kiss
.
”