ChapterTwenty-Four
Andrew took several minutes to come to full awareness.He opened his eyes and began to smile.The smile froze, and his heart stuttered.
“Tears?Dear one, I am so sorry, I?—”
“Don’t be a damned fool.It was wonderful.”She sniffed adorably.
He hadn’t intended to kiss her.Harley’s performance, Jamie’s presence, his preemptive verbal strike, and the solitude of the study all discomforted her exactly as he intended.He forgot to watch his flank.Her very presence had discomforted him more than he anticipated; it overran his common sense.
Here they were, and he knew it was his fault they were in his bed and she was crying.What a muddle!
He could not understand the workings of her convoluted female mind.Foolish woman.She wanted freedom.He offered his heart on a platter.All she had to do was take it.He watched her quietly for a few seconds too long–long enough for her to hear pots banging and voices below.
“Jamie!”She leapt from his bed.
She ran about his room gathering the remnants of her clothes, and he lay back to enjoy the sight.She was adorable and quite astonished when she turned to see Andrew stretched out on the bed in his nakedness, notmoving an inch.
“You’re amused?But Jamie!”
“Too late, love.This house is too small to mask the kinds of noise you make.”
“I don’t!I do?Odious man.You are laughing again.”
She slipped into her gown and turned so he could lace it.“Oh, do hurry.”Another laugh escaped him; his hands caressed her back, and his lips brushed the back of her neck.“If you insist.”He began to dress.
She put on her shoes and recovered her pelisse from the floor of his study, when a thought struck her.
“Was it?”Her eyes were remarkably wide.
“Incredibly pleasurable?Yes.”He fastened his waistcoat.
“Not that.”She colored brightly.“The work.Was it really good?”
“‘Is’ not ‘was.’It is quite good.”He stopped with one arm in his jacket.“Haven’t you read it?”
“As printed?No.Too angry.”
“Angry.Months of work and you were too angry to even read the blasted book?Five hundred copies sit in Bailey’s storage waiting for your decision, but you are too angry to read it.I think it is I who should be angry.It’s your work Georgie, and it’s damned good.Thank you for allowing me to share it.”
“But?”
“But nothing.The work felt good.It’s over.”He shrugged into the jacket, letting her stew about it.
Tears welled in her eyes.He hoped she wept in sorrow that the work, their partnership, had ended.The sound of voices at the bottom of the stairs brought alarm to her expression.She breathed very deeply, turned her back to him, and approached the stairs, the very picture of a vengeful warrior princess.
“Oh, no you don’t!”He reached her in a quick movement and hopped on one foot to ease the cramp it caused.“If the fox truly is in the hen house, we’re going down there together.”She turned a look filled with a mix of emotions to him.He thought he saw gratitude among them.
“Easy now, head high,” he whispered behind her as they descended the stairs.“That’s my lady.”
Two steps, three, and they were blinking in the bright sun of the sitting room.
Two expectant pairs of eyes, Jamie’s vastly amused and Harley’s sardonic and knowing waited for one of them to say something.There, by the door, stood another visitor.Geoffrey Dunning had a look of total shock on his face.Georgiana had neither maid nor chaperone; she was utterly compromised.Andrew certainly hoped she understood that.She opened her mouth; what came out resembled a croak.Andrew gently urged her toward the door, his hand on her upper arm.
“Lady Georgiana can’t stay to visit this afternoon, I’m afraid.She has reading to complete.”He watched the back of her neck turn scarlet.
“Yes, I, that is, I didn’t intend to stay.My conveyance is waiting.”
Stayed rather longer than she intended, he suspected.Her eyes looked large and unfocused; he had to pick up her hand and place it on his proffered arm in order to escort her out.
