The room was wide, filled with brown furniture, and flooded with light from the large windows. The smell of worn leather wafted from the books and chairs, and brass lamps were scattered around. She wanted to lie on the chair, put her feet up on the desk, and read a book.
“Did I interrupt something?” she asked.
“Yes, thank goodness.” He crossed his arms over his chest, carelessly handsome. “I trust you feel well.”
“The herbal tea worked wonders.” In the bright sunlight flooding the room and in her very fine but tightly buttoned gown, coming here sounded like madness.
She should have stayed home and waited days before talking to him again, instead of chasing him like a lovesick girl.
“What is it?” He offered her a chair, but she didn’t sit.
“I was wondering…” She would sound like a woman obsessed with him if she asked him when they were going to meet again. “I would love the recipe for last night’s pudding, the one with the cherries on top.”
Pathetic, but that was the best she could do without being prepared.
He gave her one of his ‘what do you mean?’ looks. “You came here, first thing in the morning, to get the recipe for a pudding?”
“Yes. No, actually, I saw Rowan, and I would like to see Zeus.” That was a better excuse, but too late.
“You don’t have to come here to see Zeus and ask for my permission. You can go to the stables directly.”
On second thoughts, that wasn’t such a better excuse.
“Yes, well, thank you.” She would be the first woman to have died of embarrassment.
He flashed one of the charming smiles he reserved for her only. “What did you want to tell me?”
She scratched her ear. Better to be honest. “We didn’t discuss when we were going to see each other again.”
“Are you eager to?” He tilted his head, and his golden hair caught the sunlight.
“Well…I’m busy, so very busy.” She fiddled with her gloves. “I need to plan ahead.”
His chest rose with a breath. “What about tonight? Dinner. No wine.”
She pouted. “No wine?”
“It would be better for you.”
A laugh almost escaped her. “So you still want to see me? I thought I bored you to death.”
He stepped closer, and the wide room suddenly became a cupboard. “Why wouldn’t I want to see you again?”
“I wasn’t sure after I made a fool out of myself.”
He took her hand, the one he’d kissed last night, and traced the heart line slowly with a finger. “I believe I was clear about my intentions.”
A fluttery feeling started in her belly. “I wanted to be absolutely sure.”
“Then let me repeat them again.” He kept caressing her hand. “I don’t want anyone as much as I want you. You are the last woman who should doubt her charm.” He placed her hand over his chest where his heart was thundering.
His heart pounded against her palm as if the heartbeat were a shout of longing. What was happening to her? She’d never felt so desirable as she did now. One word from him, and all her doubts about what was right or proper, vanished in a puff of smoke.
But it wasn’t just that. Her pulse spiked as well when he was close. She’d always found him handsome, but now she noticeda sweetness about him that made his beauty special, more intimate.
“You didn’t make a fool out of yourself,” he whispered in a voice that promised all sorts of wicked things. “You were lovely.”
A soft moan was the only thing she could produce. Great.
“I’ll see you tonight then.” He kissed her knuckles, and she couldn’t stop a smile.
“Tonight.”
