Closing her eyes, she sagged against the door, her frantic thoughts rushing over themselves. Perhaps this was not the disaster she perceived. Neither the viscountess nor the earl knew who she was. She was just another face in the crowd, and there were dozens of guests aboard, all set to disembark back at Dover in a few hours before continuing onward to the southside of France on the following day.
Oh, why had she been the one to take the tray up when the serving girl assigned to the task complained? Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Georgianna took a deep breath and went back outside. The party was not over, and though she trusted the staff would follow her instructions to the letter, she could not be careless with her ambitions and hope.
As I was just now.
Brushing aside the fatalistic thought, Georgianna hurried down to the kitchen galley, hoping the earl and his three ladies would be so enamored with their carnal pursuits, they would not give another thought to her. It was only a wretched pity she would not forget him and his illicit embrace any time soon.
…
The following morning, after only a few hours of restless sleep, Georgianna stared at Mr. Burnell as if she had never seen him before. “I beg your pardon?” she whispered, feeling sick.
The portly man sighed and fixed his spectacles atop his nose. “Your services are no longer needed for the rest of the journey, Miss Heyford. Please do not allow me to unnecessarily repeat myself.”
“I…I am being replaced?”
He lifted a brow in evident censure. “You are being fired, by order of the earl.”
She lowered the knife to the counter, aware of the silence in the galley and that the rest of the staff was careful not to look in her direction. The man had not had the decency to terminate her services in private. “I do not know what to say.”
“Nothing is required, Miss Heyford, only your compliance.”
He handed her an envelope, and she took it with unsteady hands. Georgianna peered at the contents with incomprehension. “There is a twenty-pound bank note here, Mr. Burnell,” she said, struggling to maintain an even tone.
“Yes, Miss Heyford, your wages.”
A startled laugh escaped her before she tightened her lips. “The agreed sum was three hundred pounds!”
“For three days of service. You are relieved only after one,” he said condescendingly.
“One day service would ensure me a sum of one hundred pounds, sir.”
“I merely do my lord’s bidding,” he said stiffly before walking away.
She fisted her hand at her side, staring at his back. Anger burned through her in fiery waves. Lord Stannis had been the one to kiss her, and for his liberties she should be relieved of her post and deprived of money that she had worked so hard for? Money that her family needed!
How dare he!
Fuming that she had been ensnared in his sensual thrall for even a second, Georgianna ripped off her apron and tossed it into the corner, then marched from the galley, going to the cabin she had left only a few hours ago. She knocked and waited for several moments, frustrated tears burning behind her eyes. The door opened, and the earl framed the doorway.
Recognition and an indefinable emotion flashed in the dark beauty of his green eyes, and he emitted a low sound, one of relief and perhaps pleasure.
“You’re here,” he said with such satisfaction, she could only stare. “To think I had doubt he would find you.”
Georgianna spluttered when he snaked his hand around her waist, tugged her inside the cabin, and claimed her mouth in a kiss that felt wild and hungry and so very desperate. It lasted only for a brief moment, yet the fiery sensations he so quickly and mercilessly evoked shook her. Her nipples immediately felt taut and tender, and there was a tightening low down in her belly. Temptation to lean into his kiss and allow him to have his wicked way with her beat at Georgianna’s senses.
“God, the taste of you kept me awake,” he said against the corner of her mouth.
She turned her head slightly, bit hard into his bottom lip, satisfaction surging through her when he hissed in pain. He released her, and she drew back, folding her arms and narrowing her gaze on him.
“Should you kiss me again, I will not hesitate to slap you over the head with my skillet, you vainglorious wretch!”
Humor leaped into his eyes, though he did retreat a few steps. “Why do I find your fieriness so appealing?”
She gasped. “You are a right rogue! I have never encountered the like!”
He dipped into a most charming half bow. “Forgive my eagerness. I am not normally so…unrefined when it comes to these matters. I will do better, hmm?”
Do better?“There will be no more opportunity for you to do so!”
