He couldn’t hide his amusement at the look of utter relief that washed over her face. The poor woman had obviously been dragging around a great deal of guilt since their encounter. Confessing that part of the reason she’d been so rash was because she’d been flustered by his looks certainly didn’t hurt. It was slightly adorable, actually. He’d already guessed she was quite green and uninformed about the ways of the world. She’d made a clumsy attempt at a pass at him. No damage done. Of course he had no intention of sleeping with her, even still. She was all but engaged and Grimaldi would kill him.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him, looking young and fresh and pretty. It would be cruel to hold her mistake against her. She’d apologized, twice by his count. Now he could get about the business of protecting her. Do his job. That was all he was here for. Even if the smell of apples was making him hard.
“It will make it much easier for us to work together,” she added.
“Work together?” He arched a brow.
“To keep Nicole safe,” Regina replied.
“Are you certain you’re not the target then?”
“I don’t have the past that Nicole and Mark do. Why would anyone want to hurt me?”
“In my line of work, I’ve seen a great many motives. I refuse to discard the possibility until we’re certain.”
“Very well,” she conceded. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to help you catch this man.”
“Thank you.” Daffin inclined his head. He liked that Regina was willing to help protect Nicole. It was brave and decent of her. He also liked that contrary to his first thought upon seeing her last night, she did not intend to act as if nothing had happened between the two of them. She took responsibility for her actions and had summoned the nerve to apologize again. That showed character.
A few moments of silence passed before she said, “Nicole tells me you don’t like Christmas.” Her voice sounded melancholy, as if she were disappointed to know it.
His fork arrested halfway to his mouth. How the hell did Nicole know that? Had he been that transparent?
“It’s not my favorite season, no,” he replied, hoping Regina inferred he didn’t want to talk about it. They’d just cleared up their issue. He didn’t want another one.
Thankfully, Louise came into the room, keeping Regina from asking another question. The maid stopped short when she saw Regina. “My lady,” she said, looking slightly perturbed. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
“I’d love some tea and toast if it’s not a bother,” Regina replied.
“Not at all.” Louise moved over to Daffin. Hovering too close, she leaned forward and displayed the tops of her breasts to him. “Can I get you anything else, Mr. Oakleaf?”
“Not at the moment, thank you,” he replied, his gaze trained on Regina. This was awkward.
Louise left to fetch the tea, and Regina crossed her arms over her chest, her brows arched, the hint of a smile resting on her inviting lips. “Hmm. Seems you have an admirer.”
“The maid?” He poked out his cheek with his tongue and shrugged. “Perhaps.”
Regina rolled her pretty blue eyes. “Perhaps, nothing. She nearly swooned over you.”
Daffin took another sip of coffee. “I must admit ever sincethe stories about me came out in the paper, I’ve noticed an increase in… female attention.”
Regina sat back in the chair and gave him a highly skeptical look. “Louise doesn’t read the paper. She’s swooning over you because you look like a Greek god descended from Olympus.” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, dear. I did not mean to say that aloud,” she muttered from behind her fingers.
A sly smile on his lips, Daffin poured himself another cup of coffee. “You cannot take it back now. You think I’m a Greek god.”
“No. I think youlooklike a Greek god. There is a difference, and if you are a gentleman, you’ll forget I said that, too.”
“I’llpretendto forget it,” he said with a wink. Damn. Was he flirting with her? He’d forgotten how easy it was. How simple it was to be in her company. She was reminding him of the sweet, funny woman he’d met in Surrey last summer. This was not good. For the next two weeks, he would be in the company of a gorgeous woman who had already offered herself to him and whom hemust not touch. The flirting had to stop.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Regina nearly danced to her bedchamber. Daffin had agreed to put the awkward encounter at Bow Street behind them. True, the Greek god comment had been unfortunate, but he couldn’t possiblynotknow how handsome he was. Could he? Regardless, Greek godfaux pasor no, it wouldn’t be awkward being in the same house with him after all. They’d actually managed to return to the lighthearted banter they’d shared in Surrey. Relief swamped her. Her step was light as air.
She refused to think about the fact that that same banter was what had caused her to proposition him in the first place. She was a grown woman in charge of her faculties and in control of her urges. She could spend multiple nights under the same roof with a man who looked as if he’d been carved out of marble and not pounce upon him. She must.
“Regina? Is that you?” Nicole called from inside her bedchamber as Regina passed by.
“Yes,” Regina called back. Her smile widened. Thankgoodness. Nicole was awake. Regina could tell her how she’d managed to make amends with Daffin already.
