Snippet #1513873

Isobel watched as he moved to sit beside her and she felt torn between jumping up away from him and moving closer to his warmth. She did not know what it was about this man that caused such a riot of emotions to well up inside her. He made her feel a mixture of attraction and fear and the two had become so intertwined that she had no idea which one was which or which one she felt most. It was different to the fear and repulsion she felt from Lord Rowley's presence. When around that man her entire skin crawled and her instinct was to flinch whenever he went to touch her. Yet this man seated beside her whom she knew next to nothing about fascinated her and made her want to forget propriety and safety and just give in to her inner instincts. In her life she had never felt such tumultuous emotions and she had no idea what to make of them. All she knew was that she both wanted and feared this man in equal measure and that in itself frightened her.

He was warm as he sat beside her and his thigh touched hers due to the limited space on the seat which was clearly designed for those wanting to be a great deal closer than propriety allowed. She could just imagine what her mother would say if she could see what her daughter was doing practically under her nose and the expression she could picture almost made her laugh out loud. She almost wished she could stay outside all night just to see how truly shocked her mother would be. She knew those were wicked thoughts but she could not help having them. She heard Damien ask her about the man she was trying to avoid and her thoughts returned to why she had escaped to the garden in the first place.

"I know it is ill mannered to speak such about a gentleman but Lord Rowley in my opinion falls far short on what makes a man a noble. It is not just his roaming eyes or hands though they are bad enough. It is also his words and the way he speaks that is offensive to me." Isobel said quietly.
"I have known you for only a few moments and yet in that time you have behaved in a more gentlemanly fashion than he has on multiple occasions. And yet I have a horrid feeling he will be the one I am forced to spend the rest of my life with."
Isobel realised then that she was hoping that this man could offer her a way out from that possibility and the thought scared her more than anything else had about this man. What was it about him that evoked such a strong response from her? Whatever the reason she could not allow it to continue and she knew she had to bring this dangerous behaviour to an end now. She had enjoyed these moments of living free of restriction but they were dangerous and potentially ruinous.