Still, he hated to disturb her. She looked very focused. Very serious.
He cleared his throat.
In the next instant, she jerked her face in his direction, eyes going wide with unmasked delight. Then, she snatched up the cleaning cloth, sprang to her feet, and began furiously drying the nib of her quill.
“Hello, Teddy. Do come in,” she said in breathless rush.
She was clearly happy to see him. The knowledge both warmed him and filled him with an unnameable guilt.
“If you’re certain I won’t be disturbing you?” he asked, alreadystrolling into the chamber. He knew the answer before she gave it.
“No, indeed. I was…just about to take a break.” She sidled out from behind her desk and started toward him.
His mouth watered, anticipating the scent of crushed rose petals seconds before the fragrance reached him and began twisting his insides.
He strode to the seating area near the hearth—where he’d kissed her two days ago—and dropped into the corner of one end of the sofa, telling himself he hoped she took the opposite end. Better yet, one of the two armchairs.
But then, he could’ve chosen an armchair if he really wanted to be sure he kept his distance. He ignored that realization.
Then he noted Georgina’s expression. Ever-so-slightly off. A crinkle marred the perfect skin between her bold brows. “What’s wrong?”
“I beg your pardon?” She lowered to the center of the sofa. Not one of the armchairs. Not the opposite side of the sofa. If he wished, without much effort at all, he could reach out and touch her satiny skin.
Focus, Ted. “You appear concerned. Has something happened?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
He drew his gaze from her mouth. Nothing good would come of thinking too long and hard about those softer-than-peaches lips.Too long and hard. Ha.
“Nothing that need concern you.”
He took refuge in the flash of annoyance that sparked through him. “I see. It’s all well and good to mollycoddle me, but accept any assistance, even in the form of a shoulder to lean on—”
“You haven’t offered much in the way of that over the last two days,” she retorted. Almost immediately, she looked taken aback by her own outburst.
Meanwhile, he couldn’t staunch the grin her words elicited. So she’d noticed.
Didn’t matter. It was what she’d asked for. He was trying to honor her wishes, for God’s sake. “Well, I’m offering now.”
“Of course.” She took her time answering, smoothing her skirts. “I…er…have had a letter from my mother. She…my father is back at it, it seems.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe I mentioned my father is a bit of a gamester. Some might say a loose fish.”
“So you did.”
“I also mentioned how Drake took care of all of us, and I suppose he did that because my father is not very good at it. In point of fact, he’s terrible at it. He can’t manage his own affairs half the time and, I’m afraid, for a brief period, I…er…have been covering his losses.”
“We’ve.”
She eyed him, clearly baffled. “I beg your pardon?”
“We’ve been funding his habit. We are married?”
“Of course. Your point?”
“Never mind.” He propped one ankle on his bent knee and waved a hand for her to get on with it.
