Rowan turned his head almost at once when he caught himself staring, his jaw tightening. He tried to clear his throat as he coyly took a step back and inhaled deeply, causing an awkward air to form between them.
Lucy folded her arms over herself at once, fingers pressing into the damp silk as though she might erase the moment by sheer will. Her heart thudded, traitorous and loud, echoing in her ears. The warmth that followed was not entirely from embarrassment, which only made matters worse. It felt like a thrill, an unwelcome, shameless thrill derived from the fact that he looked at her.
“I should… I should change,” she said quickly, her voice betraying nothing she did not wish him to hear. Her gaze remained fixed anywhere but his face, though she could feel him still, carefully distant.
“You really should,” he said, almost in a whisper.
There was a brief pause then he simply reached up and shrugged out of his coat. He stepped closer only long enough to drape it around her. The coat was too large, its weight settling over her arms, its scent unmistakably his.
“Take this,” he said quietly. “The corridor is not empty at this hour.”
She hesitated only a moment before accepting it. The coat was warm from him, heavier than she expected, and when she slipped it around her shoulders, it swallowed the worst of her disarray, hiding most of her dress.
Rowan stepped aside, turning his body just enough to give her privacy without fully looking away.
“Thank you,” she said softly, already moving past him.
She stepped past him, her pulse racing. She resisted the urge to run, settling instead for dignity reclaimed in fragments, her back straight even as her thoughts scattered. Behind her, she sensed rather than saw his stillness.
“There you are,” Lucy’s voice cut through the silence of Rowan’s personal library. “I’ve been looking all over for you, all day.”
Rowan had not expected to be interrupted. He had seated himself on the library floor, a scatter of letters, ledgers, and trunks around him, each item a fragment of his father’s meticulous order now devolved into chaos. Hours had passed, each spent rifling through the old accounts, searching for a missing ledger.
He looked up from the scattered papers only when Lucy walked in, squinting through the fatigue. Her presence was immediate and precise, as though the house had conspired to place her in his path at the exact moment he most needed distraction.
“You’ve been here all day?” she asked, stopping just beyond the edge of the papers.
He nodded, studying her without rising. Slowly, she sat down against a bookcase, far enough away to keep a distance from him yet near enough that her slipper brushed the edge of his stocking. He did not move. He did not flinch. His eyes swept the room, noting the disorder and noting her.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
He gestured at the chaos around him and let out a loud sigh. “Something unfinished. Something misplaced. Something that cannot be settled without particular knowledge.” He let his gaze drift back to the ledger strewn among the papers. “I’m looking for something important. I might have found it, but I’m not sure it is it until I read the entire thing.”
Lucy nodded, scanning the papers too. “Is it something you can tell me about?”
“It depends,” he said and closed the ledger in his hands. “First, tell me why you were looking for me.”
Lucy’s eyes flicked toward him, and he caught her smile. “For two reasons,” she began. “The first is… well, I finally managed to prank Brook back.”
Rowan arched an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching. “You did what?”
She leaned forward slightly. “I pranked him with beet juice. Like he did to me the other day. He was pouting so horribly that he stomped off, but it was so funny and satisfying. I bet he will think twice before pranking me again.”
Rowan shook his head. “I cannot believe you actually went through with it. You managed to prank Brook, and no one... no one has ever managed that.”
“Yes,” she said quietly, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Brook and I have a special relationship that is waiting to blossom.”
He studied her closely, noting the certainty in her posture, the easy tilt of her head, and something in her eyes that suggested she had wrestled with this idea. “A relationship… with Brook?” His voice was skeptical.
“I would like to think that I understand him,” she said softly. “You see, I was an only child, mostly alone with my governess and my parents preoccupied. Sometimes I did things for attention, little stunts, because otherwise, I was invisible. Only my cousins seemed to notice me. So I understand him to an extent.” Her gaze met his, and she added, “Anthony is usually busy with his studying. He loves his books, so he is always occupied. Daniel is little, and he has his interests. Brook is... in the middle. Sometimes it can get boring.”
Rowan’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was an only child too, and I never pulled any pranks.”
“Oh, I’m sure it was different for you,” she scoffed. “You were the only son of a duke. Life could not have been boring. Also, you would have barely had time to pull any pranks between the reading, responsibilities... School.”
“You know me so well,” he teased.
“I’m glad,” she teased back.
