The sight of him swept over her like surf on a cold day. It was bracing. It was also far beyond the bonds of propriety, beyond even what Isla would consider reasonable. Her hand, treacherous, tightened on the edge of the door. It creaked. He turned.
For a stretched second neither of them spoke. He did not snatch at the robe and he did not feign ignorance of what was plainly before him. His gaze moved from her face to her hand to the ridiculous shimmer of her bodice and back again. His eyes were not cold. They were very, very awake.
Chapter 7
“Lady Isla,” he said, voice quiet, breath even, “you are lost.”
She swallowed. “Completely.”
From around a corner of the corridor came the sound of footsteps.
“Come in, then,” Edward said, “that will be one of the chamber maids. Best that she not see you loitering at my bedroom door.”
He took up the robe and shrugged into it with a practiced economy that did nothing to erase the impression already burned into her. Isla stepped back and Edward stopped her with a raised eyebrow.
“If you step backward any further,” he added, “you will meet a suit of armor and the clamor will no doubt draw further scandal.”
Dismayed at her choices even as thrills ran through her in waves, Isla obeyed. The door clicked shut behind her, turning their absurd tableau into a room that happened to contain both of them.
“I came …” She stopped. “I came looking for air.”
“You found the one room in Ravenscroft where there is none.”
He tied the sash of the robe and picked up his discarded cravat, occupying his hands with neatness while he decided what to do with her.
“Sit,” he said at last, and gestured to the chair near the fire. “Before that dress murders you.”
“It is attempting it,” she admitted..
“Your house is a maze,” she managed to make it sound accusatory.
“It has learned to be. People are easier to avoid when walls assist.”
“Is that why you avoided me this evening?” The question leapt, untrained.
He has been avoiding me. But surely that is a good thing. The least amount of time I am forced to spend with him the better.
His mouth curved without amusement. “I do nothing by halves, Lady Isla. If I avoid it, I do it with real effort.”
“Then I am honored to be so efficiently neglected.”
“You were not neglected.”
He leaned one hip against the table and studied her, not as the ton had done, but as a navigator looks at a sky and recognizes more than stars.
I was not neglected? Does that mean he was watching me?
“I saw your eyes more than once. You were not just glancing in my direction?”
She felt breathless with anticipation and hated the weakness the emotion brought. The eyebrow was raised again. Isla could see Edward’s naked chest through a V-shaped gap in the robe. There was a furring of hair and an expanse of flat, taut muscle. Once aware of it her eyes wanted to explore but she kept them leashed to his face.
“I observed,” he said.
Damn you! Give me more than two words at a time. Is this a game?
“Your mother spoke to me,” she said, tearing her eyes from him to look around the room.
“I know.”
