Chapter 11

The next day, the rain poured down relentlessly, confining everyone indoors. Christopher, always one to find a silver lining, found a way to make the mood a little brighter.

"Why don't we play a game of hide and seek?"

Frances smiled, while the twins' eyes lit up with excitement.

"We should!"

"Please, let's."

Christopher turned to Frances. "The people have spoken. Now it is up to you—the final decision."

Frances smiled at their enthusiasm. "Alright, who wants to be the seeker first?"

"I do!" Edwin volunteered, grinning from ear to ear.

"Very well, Edwin," Christopher said, ruffling his hair. "Count to fifty, and no peeking!"

As Edwin started counting, everyone else scattered to find hiding spots. Frances moved quickly through the manor, looking for a good place to hide.

It had been many years since she had played like this, and it made her feel giddy. Just like it used to when she was a child.

One thing she loved about Christopher was that he did not find it silly to play games with the children, as some men would. In fact, he happily volunteered if it meant that he would get closer to the children.

A pursuit that, Frances noted, he had quite impressively made quite the progress in.

The children loved him, and it was clear his easygoing persona was something they loved having around.

She heard Edwin reach the end of his counting and scrambled to find a hiding spot.

After frantically searching for a few moments, she finally found a small closet in one of the guest rooms and slipped inside, hoping it would be a good hiding spot.

He should not be able to find me here.

To her surprise, just as she settled into the tight space, the door opened, and Christopher slipped inside as well.

"Christopher?"

They both froze, realizing they had chosen the same hiding spot. The closet was small, forcing them to stand very close together.

Edwin was done counting, and Christopher hurriedly closed the door behind him.

"Sorry," Christopher whispered, a mischievous grin on his face. "We have to be quiet, or else he will catch us."

"It's alright," Frances whispered back, trying to ignore the fluttering in her chest.

They stood there in the darkness, their breaths mingling.Something that Frances was very aware of. She had never been this close to him before, and truthfully, she was having a hard time focusing on anything at all when he was this close.

Was it the same for him?

Before she could ponder that question, they could hear Edwin's footsteps and his voice calling out as he searched the room, "Where are you?"

Frances and Christopher remained silent, barely daring to breathe. Edwin's footsteps came closer, then moved away as he continued his search.

"Careful," Christopher whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"I am being plenty careful," she whispered back.

"If he hears you, our cover will be blown…"

Now, she was sure that he was messing with her. He liked to see her all riled up, for whatever strange reason.

"We shall we fine if you stop talking and risking us being found…" she replied sulkily.

"A shame we had to hide in the same spot."

Even though it was dark, Frances could almost feel the smirk in his voice.

"Mind you that I was here first," she shot back and then quieted immediately when she heard Edwin's footsteps coming closer.

"Heavens,"she breathed.

That was close.

Once they were sure he was gone, neither of them moved. They were so close, their faces inches apart, and Frances could feel Christopher's warmth.

Their eyes met, and at that charged moment, everything else faded away. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Christopher leaned in, and Frances found herself leaning in too, their breaths mingling even more. The space was tight, and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest.

Frances could sense the change in the air between them, the palpable tension growing with each passing second. They remained there, frozen, staring at each other.

Just as Christopher's hand moved slightly, perhaps to reach for her, they heard Edwin's voice again, this time further down the hallway. The sound broke the spell, but they didn't move away.

Frances felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest at any moment.

Finally, it was Christopher who broke the silence. "We should get out of here," he whispered, his voice a bit rough.

Frances nodded, though she made no immediate effort to leave. "Yes, we should," she whispered back.

Again, neither of them moved, their eyes still locked, the air between them thick with tension.

Frances saw Christopher's gaze stray to her lips, and then he moved closer to her.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

"Chris—"

He did not let her complete her words, as his mouth softly landed on hers.

Suddenly, the entire world felt like it had stopped spinning on its axis, and the only thing holding Frances up was Christopher.

His kiss was soft, hesitant, but it was more than anything Frances could have ever dreamed of.

She felt like she was being swept off her feet.

But as abruptly as he had pressed his lips to hers, he pulled away.

Frances could not recognize the look on his face. If he was happy or if he regretted what he just did. Nor did he give her much time to figure it out.

"I… excuse me," he stammered out, and then he quickly walked away, leaving her by herself inside the closet.

She had never felt lonelier in her life.

* * *

Gods. What have I just done?

Christopher paced the length of the hallway, eager to get away from Frances.

He had somehow exhibited great self-control in breaking the kiss—something that felt impossible when he was in the moment.

He had kissed Frances. And to his shock, she had not pulled away. Instead, she had kissed him back.

The thought alone was enough to send his mind into a tizzy, if not the lingering taste of her lips.

"I got you!" Edwin suddenly screamed behind him.

"Oh, right," Christopher replied. He had completely forgotten about the game.

"It is your turn to seek now."

Christopher thought back to Frances. Surely, he could not stand to see her again in some inviting corner of a closet, or the other.

It would be too hard for him to resist her.

"Edwin, I just remembered that I have some work to do. I shall take my leave now, but you must continue playing."

Edwin's smile fell, but he did not protest much. Christopher took this as an opportunity to scurry away from there. Or more specifically, away from Frances. As far as he could go.

When he was in the privacy of his study, he finally let himself have a moment.

Christopher would be lying if he said that he had not considered the possibility of kissing Frances before. It might have even been a regular occurrence in his thoughts.

But whatever he had imagined, it had somehow been better tenfold.

Christopher had kissed many ladies in his life. But this… this was different.

He groaned loudly, distracted again. He knew that he was never going to be able to forget what kissing her felt like.

He had opened a Pandora's box.

God, what had he done?