CHAPTER7
Valaria paced her parlor at ten forty-five the next day, watching her clock tick mercilessly slowly.She had been ready for an hour and had tried to fill her time first by organizing her small library, then by reading…but it was all for naught.She couldn’t focus or pretend that she wasn’t desperately nervous to see Callum.
Or that the butterflies in her stomach were only because of that nervousness.She was also…thrilledat the idea of seeing him.She had thought of nothing but the weight of his mouth on hers since the previous night.And it didn’t matter how dangerous that desire was, how deeply it might damage her.She still relived his kiss with a hunger that frightened her.
She glanced at the clock again.Had only three minutes passed?She was going to expire from anticipation before she was done.
She pivoted to pace her parlor again and found that Higgins had stepped into the entryway.“I beg your pardon, Your Grace,” he said.“But the Duke of Blackvale has arrived.”
Her heart began to pound and she clasped her hands before herself in the hopes her servant wouldn’t see that she’d begun to tremble almost out of control.“I see.You may show him in.”
Higgins nodded and departed, reappearing but a moment later to announce Callum.She heard his title, watched as he stepped around her butler and into the room.Dear God, he was handsome.So tall and lanky and perfectly pulled together.And that jawline, she so wanted to trace it with her fingertips.But she felt like she was behind glass.Everything seemed muffled and off kilter.
“Your Grace?”
She blinked as Higgins’ voice brought her back to reality.“I’m sorry?”
“Would you like tea or some other kind of refreshment?”he repeated.
“Tea, Your Grace?”She glanced at Callum.
He shifted slightly, his gaze focused on hers.“Whisky?”he returned with a nervous chuckle.
She flinched.Callum might mean that as a playful quip, but she couldn’t help but think of Silas and his whisky.Silas and what happened after too many whiskies.She shook her head at Higgins.“Nothing for now, thank you.”
The butler departed the room and Callum shifted.“I apologize for the joke.It’s obviously far too early in the day for a drink.I’m…er…a little tense.”
“You?”
He tilted his head.“You think it hard to believe?”
She stared at him, drinking in the lean length of his body, the casual confidence with which he always held himself.His handsome face with all those fascinating angles had certainly caused more than one stir amongst ladies in a ballroom or parlor.And now that she’d felt the brush of his lips to hers, she had to imagine he’d certainly kissed many women before her.He would kiss a great deal more once he’d long forgotten her and whatever obligation he’d convinced himself he had to her.
She looked back at the door, which was still open.“I…I don’t know my new servants well enough to be comfortable having this conversation so openly.”She motioned for the terrace doors.“Would you take a walk in the garden with me?”
He inclined his head.“It’s a fine day.I would be pleased to walk with you, Your Grace.”
She shifted at the softness to his tone.The way he moved toward her, as if he would offer his arm.She ignored it and moved to the terrace doors to open them into the surprising warmth of the late spring day.He said nothing, but followed her out and down the short steps which led to her small garden below.
Yes, this seemed a safe option for their conversation.They wouldn’t have to talk openly in front of someone who might whisper her secrets, but they wouldn’t be in a closed room that would certainly feel too confined after their previous encounter.Out here she could control him.
She glanced at him, walking beside her, hands clasped behind his back.No.No one would ever control this man.But she could control herself.And that would have to be enough.
* * *
Callum could feel the tension coursing through Valaria even though she was trying to pretend to be relaxed and comfortable.It was in the stiffness of her shoulders, the way she kept fluttering her hands from one position to another as they walked through her garden.
He drew a breath.“It’s a pretty place.”
“What?”She looked around.“I-I suppose it is.I’ve been so consumed by organizing inside, I haven’t spent much time out here.”
She stopped, and together they took in their surroundings.The well-maintained crushed gravel pathway was buffeted by lush green grass and bushes and lined by daffodils and tulips that had likely only bloomed in the last day or so, thanks to the warmer weather.
“Itislovely,” she murmured, almost more to herself than to him.But then she glanced at him, though she didn’t meet his gaze.“I-I do find it hard to believe that you would be nervous around me.”
He realized she was answering his question from back in the parlor and drew a long breath.“And why is that?”
“Because you are well-known for your prowess with women,” she said, and her cheeks flamed with high color.He couldn’t help but mark the prettiness of that pink even though her answer troubled him.
