I looked up and caught his gaze. His eyes, clear blue with streaks of mischief gray held a smile. “There you go. You listened.”
“Yes, listen to the duke, girl,” Lady Shrewsbury said. “He’s supposedly an expert in bed.”
The man chuckled, his hands shifting from my waist to my hips, then back. He laughed more.
It wasn’t funny to be so clumsy, so awkward. I’m refined. Mostly coordinated. I’d never do this on purpose. I started moving again to get off him and to show I wasn’t the compliant bed wench he thought I was.
“Whoa now. I thought we agreed upon you not moving?”
I fidgeted more and caught a whiff of Lionel’s handiwork and more duke, a woodsy, earthy smell. “I’m sorry, Your Grace, but I want off.”
“In a moment, once you settle, I’ll lift you from the bed.”
His head lowered to mine. We were almost nose to nose.
“Have we met, miss? That is the correct question to ask being in bed together.”
“She’s Mrs. LaCroy, Duke. She’s excellent with babies.” The countess cooed to Lionel as she’d done with Athena last night. “Mrs. LaCroy is so passionate about children, she forgets herself.”
“LaCroy? Of course.” He nodded. “This is a bit of a compromising situation. Remember, Lady Shrewsbury, when I told you what that one lady tried—”
I put my hands to his chest to push away, but my fingers tangled in his robe. Now I’ve added naked shoulder to naked chest. “I need to be free, Your Grace. The baby’s still hungry and I’m . . . I’m leaking.”
“That won’t do.” His hands slipped down my sides again.
My breath caught as he clasped my hips. He lifted me as if I were a feather and set me on my feet.
“I’m so sorry, sir.” I straightened my apron but found more of my buttons were undone. When I glanced at the duke, his smile was wider.
“All that twitching. I suppose we are both disadvantaged, LaCroy.”
Cheeks burning like a raging fire, I took the baby from the countess. “I’ll take him to the nursery.”
“You can feed my ward here. No need for false modesty with you falling all over me.” He folded his arms. “Women have done that before, but it usually takes a little more effort on my part. I do like to earn my seductions.”
He pointed, his voice hardening with a sense of command. “Miss, use the chair in the corner. My ward doesn’t leave my sight.”
It wasn’t as if I had a choice. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be employed. Flopping into the chair in the corner, I slipped Lionel under my shawl and put him to suckle. His cries stopped, and I tried to forget this new humiliation.
“Duke,” the countess said, “Mrs. LaCroy will be an asset to your staff. She’s not always so clumsy.”
He rubbed his face, slow along his jaw. “I think I met yourhusbandlast night, LaCroy.”
“I beg your pardon, sir. My husband is gone. Do you see ghosts?”
His expression softened. “Now it’s my turn to apologize. Sorry, I met and, er, um, fired your brother . . . brother-in-law last night. Let him . . . Let him know . . .”
His head shifted.
I felt his gaze wandering over me. I was caught, and I knew it from the way his smile thinned to nothing.
Lady Shrewsbury moved near Jemina, swatting her hands from twisting the bed curtains. “Her brother-in-law returned to his residence after seeing to our Patience LaCroy. He won’t be visiting anymore.”
The countess smoothed her gloves. “He has his own to protect, and I assured him you’d hire Mrs. LaCroy. Don’t make me a liar or leave a woman unprotected, not when you can help.”
The duke fumbled with the belt of his robe. “Left, hmmm? My ward and I are still at a disadvantage. With one woman falling all over me, and another giving me sweet orders in my bedchamber, I . . . more words I’d never thought I’d say.”
Lady Shrewsbury pulled back the curtains on the bed. “That must be hard for a military man to cede ground to his known weaknesses.”
