“I thought you did not like those,” Elara quipped. He gave her a tired look, and she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. Please, tell me your proposition.”
“As I said earlier, William is growing every day. I do not have much experience with babies, and I need help with him. I have no idea what to look for in a nurse or a nanny, and either way, I am not sure I want much from either. You help me care for William for the time being while I try to find Augustus.”
When Elara gave him a surprised look, he carried on.
“I know I have been insistent that my family had nothing to do with Evander’s disappearance, but I am willing to entertain the possibility that I was wrong. Do you still have that note you showed me in Adrian’s study?”
“Yes, I do,” Elara quickly agreed, then blushed as she recalled how she stole it from the very house she now lived in.
“Give it to me tomorrow, if you would,” Constantine insisted. “I shall ask a few of Augustus’s friends about it. Perhaps they know something. Then give me time to get Augustus back here and talk to him about what happened with Evander. If it is true that Augustus had something to do with Evander’s death, then I believe we will be able to get an annulment.”
Elara’s heart twinged oddly at the word.
“Annulment?” she echoed. “You would dissolve our marriage?”
“Neither of us wanted this,” he replied with a shrug. “So when Augustus arrives and tells us everything he knows, we go our separate ways. We need never speak to each other again,” he said it simply, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. “We could manage it more easily if we did not consummate the marriage.”
Elara’s cheeks flushed once more as she recalled her rather bare presentation to him the night before. It was strange, but it was a comfort to know that was why he had refused her, not because he found her unappealing.
Elara bit her bottom lip to keep the small smile from showing.
“So, you had a logical reason for refusing me then,” she could not help but ask. “This marriage will be temporary.”
“You made it very difficult for me to act like a gentleman,” he retorted. “But yes, I did have a logical reason.”
His smile was devilish as he turned to her and stopped, their steps stilling just before they reached the back patio doors of the house. His green eyes darkened as they raked down her figure; the possessiveness in them sent a thrilling chill down Elara’s spine.
“I must warn you, though,” he said, his jesting tone gone from his voice. “You should never come to me like that again.”
Elara’s mouth suddenly went dry as her nipples hardened under his warning and intense stare.
“Why is that?” she boldly asked.
She breathed softly as his hand moved toward her face, and her lashes fluttered shut as he caressed her cheek so gently.
“If you ever strip naked in front of me again, I cannot promise I will show the same restraint as last time, Elara,” he whispered.
His fingers flexed around her jaw, and she followed the gesture willingly, stepping closer to him until their lips were only an inch apart.
“We should not tempt fate, should we?” he asked. “Lest you be right and your brother still be alive?”
With her heartbeat pounding in her ears and her body in a heated frenzy, Elara tried to regain her reason. She should not want this. Should not want to tempt him again right then and there. And yet…
“No,” she finally mustered. “You are right. We should not tempt fate.”
The Duke stared down at her lips for a long time, his fingers soothingly stroking her cheek again and again. Cold rushed over Elara’s body as he let her go and stepped back, looking more annoyed than devilish.
“Well,” he scoffed, pulling open the patio door for her with gusto. “At least we have finally agreed on something.”
Chapter 12
Four Days Later
“Who is this precious angel!” Caroline cooed.
Elara’s smile widened as she walked toward her cousin and sister-in-law, with baby William in her arms. Three days ago, Constantine introduced her to the one-and-a-half-year-old boy, and Elara had had a difficult time putting him down ever since. The moment she had looked into those green eyes, she had fallen in love with the baby.
“Oh, my days,” Caroline said, her eyes widening and going moon-eyed as she stared down at the little heir of Ashworth.
