If the mummy was not located here, she would just have to write that it was, but she really hoped to find a cave of loot.
Her story had also changed from a miss on a quest to a woman who had been captured by a dark lord and held in his castle and only permitted to walk in the gardens under guard.
A smile pulled at her lips as she glanced up at Lucian who read quietly by the window. While she was thrilled with her new revisions, he was frowning at the book that she had written.
Some of her happiness deflated. Did he not like the story?
Chapter26
Lucian had comein here to read with the excuse to himself that it was too quiet in the library and there was very little work for him to attend to, when in truth, he simply wanted to be where Eliza was.
It was useless to fight the draw to her that had him reevaluating his opinion of his future and wondered what life would be like if Eliza lived here permanently.
Certainly, after she searched the remainder of the caves and the mine, and found nothing, she would cease her quest and maybe become more settled. Except, did he really want her as such? Eliza would not be content to live at an estate, with few visits to London. But could he offer enough adventure to keep her happy?
Would children provide the same fullness of life that she had been enjoying most of her adult life?
With her imagination, no doubt she would entertain them with stories every day and would likely take them on adventures about the estate, and find dragons and fairies, and villains, and likely knights in a cave. But would it be enough for her?
Wouldhebe enough for her?
He certainly cared for her, but Lucian was afraid to fully examine what those emotions were. Yes, she was a frustration and an irritant, and the complete opposite of him as she acted before thinking matters through while he always proceeded with caution.
She was life and he was silence. He’d watched her in ballrooms and Eliza was known by nearly everyone and often engaged them in conversation, moving from one group to another whereas Lucian, when required to attend a ball, remained away from the crowd, a male wallflower. She could be surrounded by others and enjoy every moment whereas when there were too many people about, Lucian experienced nothing but anxiety, which left him not as confident and he evaluated every word that he spoke. There was never any hesitation in her words when Eliza engaged in conversation.
He was being a fool. A woman like Eliza would never be happy with him. She simply had not realized it or she would not kiss him.
Lucian bit back a groan. Her kisses were dangerous indeed. They ignited a flame in him that burned brightly each time their lips touched and was never fully extinguished even when they were apart.
There was also an intensity about her, even right now as she worked diligently on her manuscript, white teeth biting a bottom lip, the scratch of the quill tip on parchment. Only when she began to lift her head did he concentrate on the book because Lucian did not want Eliza to catch him watching her.
Beauty, desire, intelligence, passion, and so much more was Eliza Weston and Lucian was afraid that he may have fallen in love with her.
When the bloody hell had that happened?
Had it been during that first visit when she had been eighteen and he had been two and twenty? No other woman had appealed to him since. At least, not in a way that made him consider a potential courtship.
Or had it only been infatuation and desire then, but became love since she’d arrived to take up residence in Greenhaven Cottage?
What did he even know about love and how could he tell if that was what he was experiencing?
He had never loved anyone, at least not the type that a man feels for a woman instead of the love for family, so how did he even know if what he suspected was true?
There could also be other reasons he was drawn to her, though he could think of none of them at the moment other than what he had already acknowledged to himself.
Did it really matter? He wanted her and despite the aggravation that he might suffer in the future, Lucian did not want Eliza to leave and the only way that he could convince her to stay was if they were married.
Bloody hell!
Blowing out a sigh he took his eyes away from her and concentrated on the book. He needed to cleanse his mind of Eliza and what he wanted and escape into one of her horrid stories.
While settings were different, as well as the names, there was a familiarity to each. They all had a heroine and hero, and villain. And one character was always a grumpy earl…bloody hell!
Lucian thought over her books and realized that each story contained a grumpy auburn-haired earl, living alone in his castle, or keep, or manor. Sometimes he was the villain and sometimes the hero, but he was always a recluse that allowed no visitors and was angry when the heroine trespassed, or found her way to the castle, palace, keep, or whatever the setting, though each time it was for a different reason.
“You are frowning.”
Lucian glanced up from the book and stared at Eliza. Did she truly see him as a grumpy old earl? Was that how everyone saw him?
