“Aaron?” Caspian leaned forward, worry now taking him.Ever since he learned that he was going to be a father, the man has become insufferable.“Is something the matter with the boy?”
Evander suppressed the urge to groan. If there was one thing he hated, it was talking about his private life. Doing so was deeply personal; it always brought with it emotional openness, which, in Evander’s eyes, made him look weak.
“I worry about him,” Evander spoke carefully, refusing to give away too much about his true feelings. “You know the problems I have had trying to find a governess this last year.”
“Oh yes,” Damien chuckled. “How many have you gone through now? Five?”
“Six,” Evander said.
“He’s a menace, that one,” Damien said as if with pride. “I can’t help but wonder where he gets it from.”
Evander glared a warning at his friend. “He is not a menace. He is just… learning who he is. Which he would do, if I could find someone who didn’t balk and run every time that he dared act out – as all young boys do.”
It frustrated Evander how quickly these governesses had been to quit on his son. Yes, he was a little wild at times. And yes, he made things difficult where other boys might not. But he was Evander’s son; he deserved the best education, and to deny it to him was wrong.
I care about my son… more than most probably realize. Certainly more than Aaron realizes, which is my own failing, one that I wish I were strong enough to correct.
“Still no luck then?” Caspian asked with obvious worry. “I find it hard to believe that there isn’t someone out there who can handle the boy.”
“Oh, I’ve found someone new,” Evander said with a bitter chuckle. “But that is another problem entirely. Hired just two days ago, one Miss Finch…” His stomach fluttered in a curious way at the mention of her name, and he took a sip of ale in an effort to temper it. “She is… different.”
“Different how?” Caspian said.
Evander hesitated at the question. He had so much to say about Miss Finch, so much on his mind that he needed to work through and solve so that he might get to the bottom of why she plagued his thoughts the way that she did.
However, he needed to be careful. His two friends watched him closely; they knew him better than anyone else, and if he said the wrong thing, if he misspoke even just a little, they would pounce like rabid dogs and tear through him without remorse.
“She is…” His brow furrowed. “Brazen. Outspoken. While she is clearly well-educated, she has a tongue that might suggest she was raised in a tavern.”
“Sounds like a perfect match for Aaron,” Damien laughed.
“I have no doubt that she can handle Aaron,” Evander said, realizing right then that he meant it. “Handling his more troublesome traits is one thing. Raising him as he needs to be raised is another entirely.” He took a long sip of his ale this time. “I worry that I have brought a fox into a henhouse and should I blink…”
“Then fire her,” Caspian said simply. “Why take the risk?”
“Desperation,” Evander sighed. “Six governesses have gone through... not one other has applied, besides Miss Finch. I have no choice in the matter, and she seems to know it.” He frowned as he looked down at the table, knowing how true these words were.
As true as this statement might have been, Evander had to admit that it was not the only reason he hired her… even if he would never say the true reason out loud, or even to himself.
It was more than just her cantankerous personality and boldness. It was more than how she stood up to him, spoke back, refused to back down, where so many others would without hesitation – done because many feared him, just as Evander liked it.
His mind started to drift as he stared at the table. He pictured Miss Finch in his mind, from her dark hair that flowed thick down her body, to her green eyes that were fierce and unblinking and dangerous, to the curves of her body… how soft they were… how they demanded attention in ways that were impossible not to give.
Does she know what she does to me? Is that why she behaves that way? But how could she when I have been so careful? I have been careful, haven’t I…
“Evander?” Damien spoke to him. “Evander, are you there?”
“We’ve lost him again.”
Evander could hardly hear his two friends speaking.
His mind was well and truly trapped in a prism of temptation and fear. Hiring Miss Finch had been his only option, just as he had no choice but to keep her in his employ because there was literally nobody else.
But doing so was sure to bring its own sort of reckoning in due course. He would fight it. He would do his best to avoid it. ButEvander knew as he knew the sun was sure to rise tomorrow, that a time would come when she would confront him, when he would break, and then… he was not even sure what might happen next.
As much as this worried him, it also excited him. And that was why he could not stop thinking about his new governess, Miss Finch.
Chapter Nine
