Daisy’s eyes grew impossibly large. “I can’t let you be alone with him, miss. It’s not proper.”
“I promise not to ravish her in yer absence,” Blayne said.
Charlotte attempted the most serene expression she could manage after that comment. “It’s a business matter, Daisy. A rather delicate one if you don’t mind.”
“Very well,” Daisy grumbled. “I’ll wait for you in the taproom then.”
Of course she deliberately left the door open.
Blayne glanced at it and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Should I..?”
“Yes,” Charlotte said. “Absolutely.”
He crossed the small distance, shut the door and, she noticed, turned the key in the lock before giving her his full attention. “Now then, lass. What is it ye wish to discuss?”
“I don’t want to get married.” Perhaps if she said it out loud she’d be able to hold on to this conviction. She couldn’t allow herself to lose sight of her dreams.
“I know,” he said with gentle reassurance. “Neither do I.”
Her breath caught. She’d not expected him to say that. The words dealt an unexpected stab to her heart. Which made no sense at all. She shouldn’t care. After all, she’d just told him she didn’t want a future with him either. But to know he felt the same, hurt. More than she ever would have expected.
Determined to stay her course, she told him, “I’ve built an entire web of lies in order to avoid having to do so.”
“Yet another reason why I shouldnae have kissed ye.”
“Another?”
He chuckled lightly, easing the tension between them a little. “There’s also the fact that it’s frowned upon for an employee to take liberties with his employer.”
Swallowing, Charlotte took a step forward. “What if the employer didn’t mind?” She watched his chest rise and fall with heavier movements. His eyes darkened a fraction. She stepped closer still. “What if she actually liked it?”
“Lass…” His voice was gruff, his expression uncertain, but he did not back away.
Reaching him, she flattened her palm against the spot right over his heart. “What if she’s hoping he’ll do it again?”
“This isnae a good idea.”
The firmness with which he spoke made her second guess herself for a moment. She wasn’t this woman – this brazen temptress skilled in the art of seduction. That role was better suited to a character in a Charles Cunningham novel.
“You’re right.”
What on earth was she thinking? That she could become someone else for a few weeks and have an adventure with a brawny Scotsman? Live a little before she got too old to bother trying?
Yes, that was precisely what she’d subconsciously hoped for. Which made her an idiot – the sort who ought to retrieve her maid and return to the respectable life she was used to before it was too late.
“I’m sorry, Mr. MacNeil.” It seemed like the most appropriate thing to say. “Would you like to end our arrangement?”
“Not on yer life,” he growled as he swept one arm around her and pulled her against him.
His mouth met hers and she forgot how to think.
All she could do now was feel: his hardness and his strength. Just him. He was every bit as intoxicating as he’d been last night. Lord, how she’d dreaded getting chastised by Mr. Cooper, of having to explain herself to him and possibly to her parents as well. But when he’d failed to address what he’d seen, it had almost started to feel like the kiss had never happened.
Until now.
Charlotte raked her fingers through Blayne’s hair and clasped him to her. His teeth nipped her flesh and she instinctively parted her lips, inviting him in. Lord, he tasted good and the feel of him, so intimately caressing her in a way no one else ever had, flooded her body with liquid heat.
Clutching his thick upper arm for support, she kissed him back with equal fervor. Desperation for more tore through her. A dull thud sounded as her back connected with one of the bookcases. Blayne pushed her against it, his large hands gripping her hips as he pressed up against her with greater insistence.
