A Kiss Before Dawn Read Online Free

swung back to him. “For?”
    â€œFor frightening your horse and causing your accident. I’m afraid I was lost in my thoughts and was going much too fast, but I had no idea that anyone was on the path in front of me. It never occurred to me that anyone from Knighthaven would be out riding this early.”
    Emily looked down at her gloved hands in her lap. “Lately I’ve become a bit of an early riser, and I find that a morning ride sometimes helps me to relax.”
    â€œYou? An early riser? As I recall, you used to lie abed until almost noon.”
    She ducked her head, and Peter wondered if she was thinking about all the times he had slipped away from Willow Park and climbed the trellis up to her room at Knighthaven to tap on the glass and tempt her into joining him for an early-morning adventure. She had always grumbled and scolded him for waking her, but she had always forgiven him.
    And she had always gone with him.
    â€œMore than one thing has changed in the last few years,” she said stiffly before meeting his gaze once more, her eyes shadowed and dark with distrust. “Why are you here?”
    Peter felt his eyebrows wing upward at her rather curt manner. “You know, one might almost be excused for thinking you aren’t pleased to see me.”
    She shot him a glare. “I beg your pardon, but surely you must agree that I have every right to be surprised by your appearance? On your past few visits to Little Haverton, you haven’t ventured near Knighthaven. You’ve always stayed at Willow Park.”
    Ah. So she had noticed his avoidance of the Ellington estate. And here he’d thought she’d been completely oblivious. He should have known better. “That’s true. But I’m sure that my presence here would have only made it awkward for both of us.”
    â€œPerhaps. That doesn’t answer my question, however. Why are you here?”
    â€œYour brother invited me.”
    â€œTristan? He’s home from London?”
    â€œHe should be soon. His carriage wasn’t far behind me.”
    When he and Tristan had set off at dawn from the inn they’d passed the night at, Peter had chosen to make the rest of the short journey to Little Haverton on horseback, feeling the need for some time alone to sort out the chaos of his thoughts. It hadn’t helped, and running into Emily in such a fashion had only served to unsettle him further.
    Frowning, he rose and took a step back from her. “Perhaps we should head for the house if you want to be able to greet Tristan when he arrives.”
    Emily’s expression closed up once more. “Yes, of course.”
    As she bent to slide her riding boots back on, Peter moved a short distance away. He knew he’d been a bitabrupt, but the sooner he delivered her to Knighthaven, the better off he would be.
    If such a brief time in her company threw him this much off balance, he wondered grimly, how in bloody hell was he going to handle staying under the very same roof with her for who knew how long?
    Despite his misgivings, he knew there could be no going back now. He only hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be the biggest mistake of his life.

Chapter 3
    P eter was home.
    Her mind awhirl with the implications of his appearance, Emily couldn’t help studying the man who rode alongside her as they started their horses back up the trail toward Knighthaven.
    What was he doing here?
    When she had first looked up to see him looming over her, she’d been certain that she must be dreaming, that she had hit her head in her fall and conjured forth his image from the depths of her muddled brain. But when he’d opened his mouth to speak, she’d realized she wasn’t hallucinating. He was really standing there before her, as tall and handsome as ever. True, his shoulders were a bit broader, his square, tanned face a bitharder, but he still affected her just as strongly as he always had,