Seductive Deception

Chapter 15

Allegra weighed the options of agreeing to the proposal Morgan suggested about a picnic on Whittington property that evening but eventually agreed to it. The evening would afford them anonymity, with impending nightfall an even greater boon. But now that the time had come, she began to question herself. Even though he'd vowed to keep her identity a secret, taking a secluded trail and sticking to the lake's edge, she still had apprehensions.

But when he showed up at the door of the dower house, looking exceptionally handsome in a blue pinstriped jacket and matching waistcoat, basket in hand, grinning at her, she couldn't say no.

She knew she was doomed from the moment she saw him. She groaned at her lack of self-control and resistance to Morgan, knowing he could show up in whatever condition, whatever time of day, and with whatever motivation, and she would follow him.

They trekked along a pathway through a copse and a large field before following along the lake's edge on a well-worn path they'd taken hundreds of times as children. But, obviously, she could never mention as much to him.

Most of the trail was protected by a canopy of leaves, yet, if she closed her eyes, she could smell the lake beside them—a mixture of aquatic life, grasses, and moist earth. The memory of the scent bringing her back to happier times, times she'd spent with him. Finally, they reached a small section of open lake where Morgan bent to pick up a rock and turned back.

It was hot. Stifling hot. Despite the sun on the brink of sinking beneath the horizon. She'd do almost anything to disrobe and throw her cape and mask off. She recognized that she probably looked ridiculous in the light of day, cloaked as she was, with no other choice. So, she kept to the shadows, praying for the sun to set finally and the air to cool.

"I used to visit this lake with a friend of mine from my childhood," he stated, looking out at the water.

Her.

He was talking about her.

"We would spend a long time looking for the best rocks to skip. The flatter, the better. Like this," he bent and picked one up, rubbing the dirt from it before handing it to her, "this would be a perfect skipping stone. We'd climb trees, race, swim, fish, boat, play blindman's bluff, and everything you could think of; we did it out here."

She flushed, the memories coming fast and rich.

"Can you skip rocks?"

"I haven't in years," she confessed, searching for one to pick up. She'd been too busy making a living to do such trivial things. She hadn't skipped rocks since she'd done it with him. She picked up a stone and rubbed the gritty dirt from it.

He tossed the rock across the surface, breaking the mirror-like reflection into a series of ripples that cascaded, growing and growing, before dissipating at the lake's edge.

One. Two. Three. Four skips before it sank.

"She was always better at it than I was," he grinned, eyes still staring off into the distance, lost to the memory. "And I loved teasing her, telling her I would beat her record, but—"

Allegra held her breath, trying to decide if she wanted to hear, doubting if she had any choice.

"I told her I would skip the rock eight times, that I'd practice and be able to beat her record."

"Did you?" she didn't know where her question came from, but it consumed her. Had he practiced? It was silly, but she wanted to know. She rubbed the stone between her thumb and fingers, the motion soothing.

"There weren't many places to skip a rock on our farm," he chuckled, "Nor much time for it, but whenever I could find a pond and a free minute, I did. But I could never beat her record."