This time, she was having none of it. Esme closed the distance between them and took hold of his elbow.
“You will not say good night,” she said sweetly. “You will sit with me in the great hall, and we will play a game of chess.”
Chapter Seven
Adam admitted thetruth to himself. He had wanted to kiss her in the hayloft. Forsooth, he wanted to kiss her now. She was sweet and spirited and kind, a balm to his troubled soul.
She was also the daughter of an earl.
He chanted Callum’s name inside his head like a mantra, to ensure he did not forget why he was here.
“I will not take no for an answer,” Esme declared, raising her eyebrows in a challenge. Her touch at his elbow sent frissons of awareness all the way through him.
Does she know how alluring she is?
He cleared his throat. “I am not at Ember Hall in the capacity of a visitor, milady. I am here to guard you.”
For a moment, he thought she might argue the point, but the lady merely shrugged. The dark-colored cloak she was wearing slipped further over her shoulders, revealing the patterned sleeves of an intricately sewn gown.
Another reminder of the difference in their status. Adam thought of the plain cotton tunic he had changed into after bathing. It had once been a deep blue but had faded with age and was threadbare in patches. Not because he was without the means to dress well, but because he put little store by his appearance.
“You are here to keep me safe.” She tilted her head upright, looking at him mischievously. “Mind, body, and soul.”
“That is correct.”
She leaned closer. “I stand to lose my mind entirely if I do not have the company of someone other than a cat.” As one, they both glanced down at Felicity who was weaving about their feet. “You must play a game of chess with me, Adam. To keep my spirits high.”
Her logic was hard to counter. Especially when he wanted to agree with her.
“As you wish, milady. But I can only play one game.”
“I also wish for you to stop addressing me as milady.” Esme threw him a look over her shoulder as she led the way into the great hall. “If memory serves me right, I have already made this request. And if you are here as my servant, rather than my friend, I must insist that you adhere to my requests.”
He breathed out sharply. Aye, he had been explicitly—and consciously—going against her invitation. But if he addressed this fine lady only by her given name, yet another barrier between them would begin to crumble.
“Here we are.” Esme paused by the flickering fire. “We need to pull up those two chairs and lift this table between them.”
Without hesitating, he did as he was bid. Any physical activity helped quieten the warring voices in his head. Moving the heavy furniture caused his heart rate to increase; at least, that was what he told himself.
Esme slipped off her cloak and draped it on the window seat, talking softly to Felicity who promptly jumped onto the cloak and curled up to go to sleep. Esme bent down gracefully and extracted a carved wooden box from a large trunk.
“I fetched this from the solar yesterday.” Her eyes danced. “In the hope that we might play.”
Adam stood awkwardly by the nearest chair, waiting for Esme to sit down so that he might do the same. But instead, Esme waltzed over to the hearth and pulled on the bell rope.
Finally, she came to join him, sinking gracefully into a tapestried chair and crossing her ankles.
“Will you set the game up?”
He took the box from her, careful to ensure his fingers did not brush against hers. The box doubled as the board, straightening out into a level surface once the pieces had been safely extracted. He lined up them up at one side of the table, noting the exquisite detail in the carving and the smoothness of the wood.
He was not accustomed to such beauty.
“Would you care to be black or white?” he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the board.
“You choose.” Esme was nonchalant. “I find it makes very little difference.” He felt, rather than saw, the warmth of her smile. “Ah, Jennifer. Thank you. Please could you bring us some wine?”
Wine.
