Four hours. It would give Pip enough time. With one quick glance at Joyful, she went back to her dinner. Joyful gave her a miniscule nod. Pip would have hot water to clean up, and she would have help to quickly change. And she would have Beau in her bed.
And Pip planned on taking advantage of it all, because she knew in her heart that after tonight, she would lose her chance to show her husband how she felt about him and the idea that they would have a white marriage.
And oh, Blessed Bernard’s buttons, she couldn’t wait.
13
Beau had meant to spend the night in the front salon, no matter what Billings offered. It had to be better than trying to sleep next to Pip. But one look at the change in Billings’ posture after Beau had accepted the boy’s offer, and he knew he couldn’t be anywhere in evidence during the boy’s shift. It would destroy Billing’s fledgling dignity. If he had been in the navy, he’d know perfectly well how to watch for trouble, to notice what did not belong even if it wasn’t a sail on the horizon. And with Nate’s men outside doing the same, Beau could get a bit of sleep.
He waited for everyone else to retire before officially handing off the duty to Billings and climbing the stairs. He had no idea where Pip was. She had disappeared some time earlier along with her lady’s maid. He guessed she had gotten young Robbie bedded down in the library, because there he was sprawled out on the sofa under the blankets Beau had used the night before.
Which left Pip’s bedroom.Thebedroom. With the lady’s maid in the dressing room to glower at him. Climbing the stairs, he pulled at the knot in his cravat. It was going to be a long night.
This was definitely not how he’d ever envisioned his marriage to be. Good thing he was planning to end it as soon as possible.
A lone sconce burned in the hallway, casting feeble shadows across the walls and floor, only the window at the end of the hall providing more faint light. Beau blew out his night candle and set it on the hall table before reaching for the door handle.
Someone had built up the bedroom fire, which threw out more warmth than Beau had expected. More light as well. He stepped inside, already pulling at the sweater he had borrowed from one of the stable hands.
“Pip?”
“I’m here,” she said from behind the privacy screen.
Just the soft sound of her voice raised gooseflesh. What was it about her that so roused his body? Her voice, her smile, her sharp tongue. Her lithe horsewoman’s legs and athlete’s form. He couldn’t help it. Every time he was with her, he saw her underneath him, her arms out, waiting. Wanting. And there was nothing that would drive him mad quicker.
Sitting on the chair by the fire, he tugged off his boots and rolled down his stockings. Even his toes were warm.
What did he say to her? How could he make this seem normal?
“Is Joyful in the dressing room?”
Pip chuckled. “No. She refused to feel like an interloper. I believe she is in the housekeeper’s room by the kitchen.”
He nodded. “Oh, good. I did not need her sneaking across the room in the dead of night.”
Pip let go another chuckle. “Joyful does not sneak.”
“Then I do not want her passing judgment without a word.”
Pip chuckled. “That she most definitelydoesdo.”
Stuffing his stockings into his boots, he lined them up like toy soldiers. He didn’t know how he was to relax, and he was so tired. Extortion and surprise brides did that to him.
Still, he didn’t have to take it out on Pip. “Thank you, by the way.”
Pulling his shirt over his head, he laid it over the other chair until he could return it to its owner.
“For what?” she asked.
“For keeping your head today. Most women wouldn’t have.”
She laughed. “Actually, most women probably would have, if they had grown up learning what I did. We women are involved in a lot more dangerous activities than men give us credit for.”
He couldn’t help but grin. “Like what?”
The answer was stark. “Childbirth.”
Well, she had him there. He walked over to where the gold-colored covers were turned down on the old four poster. He was reaching for the buttons at his falls when he stopped. He was used to sleeping in the nude. That would not be a good idea tonight. His cock had been acting unruly enough lately. It did not need more freedom to further its mischief. Instead, he climbed into bed and pulled the covers up and thought how he was the image of a new bride waiting for her groom.
