" Eliza reached for the basket, but it was heavier than expected, and she almost dropped it. With a quick motion Lord Hastings righted it before the flowers could spill out, and in the process stepped very close to her.
"Sorry," she said breathlessly as she hefted the basket in both hands.
He didn't let go. Eliza looked up and her breath caught in her throat. He was looking at her, and his expression made her heart start to pound and her hands start to shake.
"Miss Cross," he began. "I hope you don't think me presumptuous, but...I am rather glad your father was delayed today."
She couldn't blink. She couldn't move. He reached out and drew her shawl lightly over her shoulder from where it had drooped.
"Do you?" he asked softly.
"What?" Her voice sounded faint and dazed.
Hastings's mouth curved, and his eyes crinkled, almost teasingly. "Think me presumptuous," he whispered. "You can tell me."
"No!" It burst out of her like a shout, but she had only enough breath for a whisper.
Something shifted in his eyes before he lowered his lashes. He took her hand in his and raised it. Eliza quaked inside as his lips brushed slowly, softly, over her knuckles. His hands, still gloved, were so large and strong around her limp fingers. His eyes flashed up for a moment, as if gauging her reaction, and then he turned her hand over and touched his lips to her wrist.
Eliza thought she might have whimpered out loud. She must have dozed off in the sun and was having another dream about him, one in which he looked at her with those obsidian-dark eyes and gave her the slow smile that made her stomach jump and leap, but no- this felt real. The handle of the flower basket was digging into her palm, her heart was pounding so hard she could almost hear it, and he was so close she could see the beginnings of stubble on his jaw, right near his beautiful mouth- "

― Caroline Linden , An Earl Like You (The Wagers of Sin, #2)