“But I’m not a gentleman tonight—or for the foreseeable future.” Ravensworth’s sardonic smile went a little wicked. “You can call me Seb.” A beat. “Lilah.”
A shiver rippled through her at the velvet crush of her new name against his throat. She found her eyes straying down the strong column of that throat. Since working men didn’t wear cravats, he wore only a neckerchief, leaving more of him open to view than his usual dukely self.
Seb.
She supposed a man like the one before her could be a Seb.
“Do you decree it, Your Grace?”
It would be dangerous to forget who he was.
She wouldn’t let herself—no matter how appealing her gaze found the muscular column of his neck and the light brushing of hair peeking just above the V of his shirt.
Silently, he tipped his hat before pivoting on his heel and descending the caravan steps to disappear into the night.
But not from her life.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
It defied belief.
Ravensworth…
Her nemesis.
Here.
And yet…
Who was the man she’d just encountered?
She snorted. A man full of dukely imperative. And yet…
Tonight, dressed simply, he’d appeared all man…manly.
She’d never viewed Ravensworth as manly.Handsome… sophisticated… arrogant… condescending…Those were the insufferable ingredients that composed Ravensworth.
But, tonight—and presumably for the rest of the summer—he wouldn’t be Ravensworth. He would beSeb.
And she would just have to suffer it.
She would ignore him.
It was possible.
Right?
The fact was she was under no obligation to spend time with Sebastian, the Duke of Ravensworth—or Seb the carpenter.
This summer was the start of the rest of her life.
And she wasn’t about to let one meddling man—duke!—ruin it.
Not again.
Chapter Three
North Norfolk
