She didn't want to cause a scene. Lester swallowed; they were so close together that he was half-worried she would feel the motion of his Adam's apple, even though she was nearly a foot shorter than him. He had to stay steady; he was supposed to be the responsible one, the easy-going one. He had not managed a good job of that since she'd died, but with her back, he was trying to keep the tension and the anger at bay so that he could get them through this.

"They're going to think I kidnapped you," he pointed out, tone gentle. She was a debutante and he was a boy below her station — this was not going to go over well.