She was a naughty miss. No proper greeting such asGood evening, my lord.No, she went straight for the joshing. And hell’s bells if it didn’t please him.
“I am well, Miss Prim. How are you after your morning of fierce snow battles?”
“Feeling excellent. Victorious even.”
She tried to keep from smiling, but it just wasn’t in her nature to hide how she felt. He smiled too, though what he wanted to do was kiss her tempting, rosy lips. For all her impertinence, he was damned attracted to her.
Crispin’s uncle evidently thought Seth and Lillian wanted to do some courting because he promptly excused himself.
“Did you receive my instructions for Heron’s and Fallon’s lessons for tomorrow?”
“Yes, I did. All twenty-five sheets of vellum you meticulously composed out for me.”
She was teasing him—again. And he was enjoying it—again. Over the years, he’d had many young ladies, widows, and even a few a spinsters flirt with him, flatter him, and pursue him with determination, but he’d never had one challenge him. Physically, mentally, and sexually all at the same time. Until now. A crashing wave of delicious desire tumbled through him. More and more he was thinking he should forget the rules of a gentleman, return to his scoundrel ways, and ask Miss Prim to meet him in an abandoned stairwell he knew about.
But, no,restraintwas the word. Miss Prim was Crispin’s sister-in-law and an innocent young lady. He couldn’t forget either of those two things. Though he certainly wanted to.
“It wasn’t that many and you know it.”
“Close.”
“More like five,” he found himself arguing and relishing it. “Now, do you have any questions about my instructions?”
“No.”
That answer was much too short and her expression much too innocent.
“Did you read them?”
“Not yet,” she said as casually as if she’d told him the sun would rise in the morning.
“But you will?”
She smiled, and his stomach turned a summersault. He didn’t think it normal for blue eyes to sparkle that much, for a complexion to be that flawless, or for him to be that interested in a young lady. She wasn’t trying to win his attention, approval, or affection, but she had completely captivated him.
“Of course I’ll read them.”
He was beginning to learn her way of thinking. “So will you be reading them before you take care of the lads tomorrow or after?”
“Oh, you are a demanding task master, my lord.” She gave him a mock frown. “It’s Christmastime Season. Must I promise?”
“And even then I’m not sure I should trust you.”
She laughed. “I suppose I wasn’t on my best behavior today.”
“You suppose?”
“All right, I wasn’t,” she agreed without a trace of reluctance in her expression or her voice. “It’s just that I’ve already been here a couple of days and there hasn’t been much to stimulate me. It was so pleasurable to have someone to laugh with, and they seemed to need it too. So, yes, if I must, I promise I’ll read your instructions before I go to bed tonight. Now are you happy with that?”
He wished she hadn’t said the wordbed. That brought an image of her dressed in a pristine white, sleeveless night rail with all that luxuriously silky golden hair spilling over her shoulders. He wanted to feel her soft, willing lips moving across his. He wanted to feel her full, firm breasts pressed gently against his chest and beneath his hands.
Anticipation throbbed slowly, yet eagerly, through him.
Seth blinked to clear the thought of her in his bedchamber from his mind. “Yes,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting in a grin. “However, just to be sure, I went over everything with Heron before I came below stairs. He knows what to do in case you don’t find the time to read the lessons I planned.”
“That settles it then,” she answered, pretending to sound a little miffed. “If I have instructions from youandMaster Heron, I’m sure I’ll manage the day quite well.”
Why did she question him on his teaching of the lads? He’d read from some book almost every day since he was five. Even during his scoundrel days when he and his friends raced their horses at midnight, when they fenced until they drew blood, and when women, cards, and brandy were the most important things in his life, he had always made time for his books.
