In defeat, she sighed. Too late to repair the damage now. She must talk to him, even looking like she had just awakened from a sleepless night.
Maxey walked out of her bedroom and into the main room. Nash stood in front of the window, peering between the draperies. He hadn’t lit the lamps, aiding the ghostly moonlight as the pale streams coming through the windows gave the house an eerie feeling. He had removed Sally’s attire and was back to wearing the clothes from earlier. Heavens, he looked incredibly handsome.
“I’m assuming that man is still out there?” she asked.
Nash glanced her way, and by the small light coming from her room, she noticed the moment his angry look changed to one of desire. A breath released from his opened mouth, and an out-of-control rhythm pounded in her chest. His mesmerizing gaze made her want to run and launch straight into his arms.
That, she could never do again.
Could his response be due to her tangled mess of hair? She should have left it alone. Her father had always told her proper ladies kept their hair styled, but brazen women left it unbound. Was she brazen like her mother? Could that be why she had been so difficult and unruly as a young girl? She prayed it wasn’t.
Nash moved away from the window and to her side with the grace and elegance of a panther. His eyes never left her face as he drank in her features. He lifted a lock that had fallen over her shoulder and rubbed it between his finger and thumb.
“Nash,” she whispered, thinking to stop him, but her voice trailed off as she met his smoldering gaze.
“You are beautiful. I have never seen hair so lovely.”
She forced a small laugh. “It’s just hair.”
“Why did you take it out of the coil?”
“To be honest, I usually don’t style it as grand as I did tonight. If you remember correctly, I was playing a role.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Am I now looking at the real Maxey Littleton?”
“No. I’m usually not adorned in such a fancy gown. My tastes are toward a more plain and modest attire, befitting my role as a governess.”
“Then change.” His eyes slowly moved over her. “I want to see the real you.”
Her breathing quickened. The idea tempted her, but she couldn’t do it. “No, Nash. We cannot stay here long. As you have noticed, my brother hasn’t taken care of the place since I left.”
“Sadly, we cannot leave.” His face hardened as he glanced toward the window. “My pursuer is outside watching the house.”
“Do you truly believe your uncle sent him to kill you?” she asked, still not certain if Nash was telling her the truth.
“If he’s not here to kill me, then it must be your beauty he is infatuated with.” He winked.
Her heart skipped a beat. “You must stop teasing me like that. I am not pretty at all.”
“Then why does your beauty take my breath away?”
Feeling suddenly uncomfortable with his compliment, she walked past him and into the kitchen. Changing the subject was needed at this moment. “I wonder if there is anything to eat.”
“If you have tea, that will be wonderful.”
Maxey nodded. “But I would have to fetch some water from the well out back, and we would have to fire up the stove or start a fire in the hearth.”
“If you want to start a fire in the stove,” Nash said, “I’ll sneak out back to the well. My clothes are darker than yours, and the man watching the house won’t notice me.”
Her poor nerves were already shattered, and as Nash crept out back to fetch the water, Maxey’s hands trembled while she stoked fire into the stove. She honestly didn’t know if meeting Nash Burke was the worst thing in her life…or the best. She wished her emotions were not so scattered.
Soon, the back door to the kitchen opened, and Nash hurried inside, carrying a bucket of water. He placed the bucket on the counter next to her.
“Did he see you?” she asked.
“No. I was very quiet, and I stayed in the shadows.”
“Thankfully, the trees in the back give us plenty of shade.”
