Page 18 of A Seaside Scandal (Change of Heart #2)

Chapter Eleven

JONATHAN

Itossed my shirtsleeves behind a wall of seaweed-coated rocks, the breeze catching the fabric and carrying it a few inches short of my discarded boots.

The white fabric reminded me of Miss Lyon’s handkerchief.

I stopped my mind from spiraling through the events of that horseback ride all over again.

I had thought of that morning—and Miss Kellaway—far too many times already.

My sunrise swim was now a part of my routine, and I had yet to be seen in this particular area of the beach. But if I didn’t make haste, I would be seen today.

In nothing but my breeches.

The waves were sizeable, but nothing to be concerned about.

I had encountered larger waves before. The grey morning sky provided just enough light for me to see the ground as I stepped out from behind the rocks.

I avoided the wet strands of seaweed that coated the pebbles and sand, keeping my gaze fixed downward as I ran forward and plunged into the incoming waves.

The cold saltwater enveloped my entire body, invigorating my senses.

I had been half-asleep dragging myself up the beach that morning, but now I was fully awake.

I broke the surface for air before diving down again, swimming past the point where the waves reached their peak.

The water was calmer and much deeper there, so I floated on my back and looked up at the dim sky.

I willed my mind to relax, my anxiety to fade.

Being away from Southcliff Manor had been wracking me with guilt.

I had never left Margaret to the care of my staff for so long.

While I trusted them completely, I still worried that she would wonder if I had abandoned her.

It would not be the first time someone had done that.

I closed my eyes, letting the water spill over my ears and temples, all the way up to the edges of my eyes.

Margaret wasn’t my only worry. There was the news of my fortune circulating, which could very well spread beyond Brighton.

Even my harsh words to Miss Kellaway had been haunting me—and the look of hurt that had flashed in her eyes.

I could have been kinder in my rejection, but I had panicked. I hadn’t behaved honorably at all.

I dropped my head beneath the surface of the water, letting it catch my hair and pull it away from my forehead before lifting my head back out of the water.

And then another head burst out of the water.

I jerked backward. My first instinct was that a large fish had broken the surface, perhaps to swallow me up. But it was a person. A woman. Her features came into view, wild with shock.

It was Miss Kellaway.

She screamed, thrashing backward even more than I had.

Her head disappeared under the surface. Panic seized my muscles.

Was she drowning? I instinctively reached underwater, my hands gripping what felt like her waist, but then she broke the surface again.

I held onto her, still certain that she was drowning, or lost, or confused…

there had to be some explanation for why she was bobbing out in the sea alone at sunrise.

I kicked my legs hard, struggling to keep us both afloat.

Her wild eyes settled on me with shock. “Mr. Croft!”

Had she just now realized it was me? Or was she pretending?

A wave pushed us closer together, and she flattened her palms against my bare chest, shoving me away. She splashed vigorously as she put a few feet between us. She seemed perfectly capable of swimming on her own, even if her hair was plastered partially over her eyes.

“What the devil are you doing out here?” I asked. My heart pounded fast as I watched her drifting farther away from me. She was heading for deeper water. My anxiety heightened. I swam toward her, and she finally stopped paddling away from shore.

She barely kept her head above the undulating waves. “Swimming,” she answered.

“You should not be out here.” My voice was labored. The current was strong, and while I trusted my own ability to swim, I couldn’t imagine how a woman as small as Miss Kellaway, with wet skirts tangling around her legs, could manage to keep herself from being pulled away by the tide.

“But I am out here nonetheless.” Somehow, she managed to hold her chin even higher above the water. Her gaze darted toward my bare shoulders before flicking back up to my face. Her cheeks were pink. “Are you—are you…?”

“I am clothed,” I blurted. “Partially.” It wasn’t a great deal of reassurance.

A woman of genteel breeding like Miss Kellaway wasn’t likely to have ever encountered a man in my state of undress before.

My mind raced back to my conversation with her elder brother on the Steine.

I had mentioned my secluded beach, and that it was a good place for a swim.

Miss Kellaway had been listening. Then there were Miss Lyons’s words about Miss Kellaway’s ‘plan.’ A very detailed stratagem, indeed. Today was only the beginning.

A surge of dread assailed my stomach.

Had Miss Kellaway come here hoping to find me?

I threw a glance over my shoulder at the shoreline. A young woman—a maid by the looks of her—observed our interaction, mouth agape. Blast it. “Does your mother know where you are?” My voice was rough with panic.

Miss Kellaway’s eyes narrowed as she continued floating away. “My mother is no longer in Brighton.”

I didn’t have time to ask the reason. “Does your brother?”

“No, he does not,” she snapped. Her mouth slipped underwater, and she came up coughing. “Why should he? I didn’t think I would encounter anything but a fish or two out here at this hour.”

“Because swimming in the sea alone is dangerous.” I scowled at her, hoping to emphasize my point.

“You do it! Every day, if I recall correctly. What makes you so much more capable than I?”

“So you do recall. That is why you are here, is it not?”

“What?” Her brows snapped together in a glare.

Now was not the time to throw accusations at her.

We were drifting farther from shore by the second, and my strength was already running low.

The unexpected encounter had my heart pumping fast, but my muscles were growing weary.

Miss Kellaway’s fiery gaze took me in one last time, and then she disappeared under the surface.

Intentionally or not, I didn’t dare take the risk.

“Devil take it,” I muttered. My loyalty was to Edmund, and if Miss Kellaway was under his protection here, then it was my duty to deliver her home safely.

I reached under the water, gripped her by the waist, and held her tight against me as I kicked against the current. She gasped as I dragged her up out of the water.

“Unhand me!” She wriggled for a moment, but then her eyes met mine.

Her efforts to escape became weaker, and I nearly forgot what I was to be doing.

Her lashes dripped with water, her lips and cheeks flushed.

Her cold fingers rested against my chest, and I felt my legs tangling with the fabric of her skirts.

My attraction to Miss Kellaway was rather bothersome, especially in a moment like this.

I felt the tip of each of her fingers like an imprint on my skin, and soon I would be imagining them in my hair, her lips on mine, my arms locked even tighter around her.

I was already imagining it.

A frustrated sigh burst out of my chest as she tried to squirm away again.

“I’m taking you back to shore.” I was holding her far too close, but I was afraid to let go of her.

She would drown or drift away, and I would feel responsible.

It was clear that she had wandered out here to find me, to somehow gain the upper hand over Miss Lyons in their competition for my fortune. I wasn’t daft.

“I know how to swim on my own,” she said in an exasperated voice.

Her wet white gown melted into her skin, but I kept my eyes fixed on her face. “I’m not leaving you out here,” I grumbled. I shifted my grip, hooking one arm around her waist as I used the other to propel us forward.

She fought against me for a few seconds, but then a wave struck us from behind. I barely managed to keep my head out of the water. My feet touched solid ground, and I continued to pull Miss Kellaway along until she could stand.

“How did you manage to sneak up on me?” I asked as we trudged toward shore. Each step we took revealed more of my torso. Miss Kellaway glanced once, then averted her gaze.

“You snuck up on me,” she said in a hard voice. She tripped over her skirts, scooping up a handful of the sopping fabric.

“I explained the location of this beach to your brother on the Steine.” I fought to keep my balance as a wave hit my back. “You overheard.”

“Why on earth would I care to follow you here?” She turned to face me in the waist-deep water. “You made your opinion of me very clear that morning.” Her face darkened a shade.

“Only after you and Miss Lyons made your intentions so inappropriately obvious.”

She reared back. “You think I’m trying to ensnare you?”

I stared down at her. She knew precisely what she was doing. “What lady would put herself in a position like this if she had any other intention than that? It seems that you want your reputation to be ruined. And ruined by me.”

“How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I am a lady.”

“You have not been acting like one.”

She gasped, marching a step closer in the water. “And you? Are you such a perfect gentleman?” The mocking tone in her voice made my chest tighten. “You were harsh to me that morning, and you did not even give me a chance to reply. Will you allow me to do so now?”

I remembered every word I had spoken to her as I rode away on my horse. I swallowed hard, nodding in the process.

She tipped her head up toward me. She searched my face, her sharp glare cutting my skin like a blade. “I do not wish to marry you. I never did. I would never try to ensnare you, because I don’t wish to even be near you ever again. In fact, I am repulsed by the idea. Is that what you wish to hear?”

“Yes.” My throat burned. I could hardly believe I had once thought so highly of her. And so often. My first impression could not have been more wrong. “I am quite relieved to hear it.”

I sensed her anger escalating, her cheeks flushing darker. Her eyes locked on mine. She didn’t seem at all dismayed by my lack of clothing. In fact, she seemed like she wanted to shove me backward into the water and leave me to drown. “Then let us part ways now and never speak again,” she said.

“Excellent.” Whether or not she was telling the truth about trying to ensnare me was irrelevant.

We were in a very compromising situation, and a discussion needed to be had on the subject.

“We must pretend this incident never happened. Return home and speak of it to no one. Ensure your maid’s silence as well, at whatever cost.”

She pushed her hair away from her forehead, releasing a huffed breath.

She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, but nodded.

The water only came to her waist, and her arms were textured with gooseflesh.

A wave struck her from behind, and I reached forward to steady her.

I caught her by the upper arms, and she fell against me.

There were her hands again—flat against my chest, all ten fingertips leaving a tangible mark.

Like the traitor it was, my heart picked up speed.

She looked up at my face. For a brief moment, the anger drained from her eyes.

Her chest rose and fell with a heavy breath.

The freckles across her nose matched the ones on her collarbones, and her eyes matched the sea all around us.

My insides burned, and a surge of sudden desire struck me harder than the waves.

My gaze flickered over her lips. They were flushed, just like her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

Despite my anger, doubt, and utter frustration with this woman—a wild longing to kiss her galloped through my mind.

What the devil was wrong with me?

I tore my gaze away from her mouth, but her eyes weren’t any better. There was still a fire behind them, but it was different, softer somehow—and it tugged me closer. I was moments away from doing something regrettable and irreversible, and Miss Kellaway did not seem at all inclined to stop me.

This was what she wanted. This was her plan.

The thought flitted through my head, providing me with enough sense to tear my gaze away from her face.

On the cliff above, three women stood near the edge.

My vision cleared, their bonnets and brightly colored gowns coming into view. All three women were looking down at the sea—at us—lips covered in shock, eyes round with dismay.