Pretending her cheeks weren’t as red as his hair—and hating that she probably looked flustered because she blushed too easily—Sadie lowered her own voice. She wasn’t trying to keep the conversation private from Madeleine; she had completely forgotten his mother was right there. The moment simply deserved the hushed tones of intimacy. “I don’t think you’d dare.”
“Just say the word, Sadie.”
She gulped, realizing she had lost herself in the moment and forgotten all her reasons not to flirt with the baron. She shouldhave known not to challenge him, for he was already prepared to accept that gauntlet.
Sadie straightened her spine and turned to Madeleine, who sat eating her porridge as if her son and the guest she had invited to convince him to marry any of the true ladies weren’t whispering right in front of her. “Your son is a bit of a magpie, Madeleine, collecting bits of everything in his room,” she blurted, needing to escape the conversation.
She was the one who wouldn’t dare.
???
Nicholas left breakfasthopeful and frustrated in equal measure. Sadie wanted him, he knew that much, and he burned with desire for her. But she wouldn’t take that final step.
At this point, his earlier determination not to cross that line with her until she trusted him didn’t matter. They had already gone too far. And yet, it wasn’t even close to far enough. Sadie was the one holding back now. She knew as well as he did that there would be no pretending that they could treat a liaison as purely physical.
Nicholas had accepted it. He wanted it.
But Sadie was still afraid, and he couldn’t allay her fears until she shared them.
He counseled himself to be patient. He’d made more progress yesterday by not pushing than he had in the two weeks prior. He couldn’t force Sadie to trust him, only show her that he’d honor that trust.
But showing required time together, and he still had two more ladies to spend the day with and no clue what stunt his mother would pull next.
He made his way to the lavender sitting room and tried not to scowl, lest Beatrice think it directed at her. Was there anychance she’d choose an activity that might distract him from his thoughts of Sadie?
He snorted softly. Of course not. Beatrice could decide they would spend the day playing every cocky schoolboy’s favorite knife game, and Nicholas would end up stabbing every finger and still not be able to stop thinking about Sadie.
He should probably apologize for his distraction right at the beginning, though he wasn’t sure Beatrice would care.
He entered the sitting room and found the lady in question wasn’t even there. He took a seat and vowed to use the time until she arrived to get his head straight, though he knew it to be an impossible task.
Beatrice walked into the sitting room five minutes past the hour and closed the door behind her.
Nicholas had risen to his feet the instant she walked in, and now he gestured toward the chairs. Beatrice shook her head. “I’ll keep this short.”
Not certain where this conversation was going, Nicholas remained standing and simply nodded.
“I accepted your mother’s invitation because I believed there was a possibility we would suit. Not in a romantic sense, but a practical arrangement benefiting us both was not outside of the realm of possibility. I would let you live your life, and, I believe, you would let me live mine.”
Nicholas opened his mouth, but didn’t have to form a response because Beatrice held up a hand and continued talking. “I’m only telling you this now so that you understand what my expectations were and were not and to assure you that I will not stand in your way now that you have clearly found a woman you want to build a life with, not just one who will satisfy your mother’s desire to marry you off.”
She looked at him expectantly, and he fumbled for a response. “Thank you for your honesty.” He hesitated, thendecided he might as well ask. “Are my feelings for Sadie that obvious?”
It wasn’t that he wanted to hide what he felt, but he hadn’t realized he’d given himself away that clearly among others.
Beatrice shrugged. “I doubt Helen has paid attention enough to notice, and Jane is too starry-eyed when she looks at you to pick up that the polite kindness you show her is different from how you treat Sadie. But the rest of us have all seen it. I assume I don’t need to warn you to watch out for Abigail?”
“No, though if you know anything specific about her plans, I would appreciate hearing them.”
“I do not, but I will pass along anything I may learn.” Beatrice inclined her head and turned toward the door.
“Wait.” Nicholas stopped her. “Today is your day to choose an activity.”
“My choice is to spend the day reading in the library. You may do whatever you wish.”
Nicholas smiled. “I think you are right that if circumstances were different, we might have suited.”
Beatrice was exactly what he had once hoped for in a wife. Someone peaceful, who wouldn’t get in his way. Better yet, she wanted the same sort of dispassionate arrangement.
