Page 22 of The Duchess' Replacement

He may have won this round, but she would not give him the benefit of watching her run from him.

With new resolution she relaxed her shoulders and lifted her head. She turned to her husband and a movement caught her eye.

She may be naive with some things, but thanks to the books she read she knew she wasn’t the only one affected by their kiss. He might have a better poker face than her, but, thank heavens, God gave men a noticeable tell when it came to arousal.

Sarah raised a slight eyebrow at Charles.

He didn’t move to hide his arousal, or apologize for it. He continued to stand there, seemingly unaffected.

Sarah had to credit his sense of control. Something itched in the back of her mind that had the butterflies flittering around her stomach again.

He matched her expression and raised an eyebrow, daring her to acknowledge what she saw.

She clucked her tongue and turned back towards the door.

“I’m retiring to my room if you need me.” She said with a sway of her hips.

“Sarah?” His voice, demanding.

She stopped and only dipped her head to the side to acknowledge him.

“Next time I will not go so easy on you.”

She nodded in acknowledgement and walked out the door hoping beyond all hope he did not see her slight stumble from her weakened knees.

CHAPTER 7

Sarah made her way down to the dining room for breakfast. She had a pleasant night sleep the night before. She barely remembers preparing for bed, only that as soon as her head hit her pillow she fell into a blissfully deep sleep.

Sarah passed the study on the way to the dining room and her body instantly hummed.

She traced her lips with her finger. She could still feel the pressure of his lips on hers and she couldn’t help the rise of elation when she thought of it. While she still didn’t know where she exactly stood with her husband, she still firmly believed no man could kiss a woman like that and not want to be involved with her.

Sarah was determined to build something, anything, with him. Even if she had to misbehave to do it.

Sarah blushed at the threat of another punishment.

“Next time I won’t go easy on you.”

His words echoed in her head, causing her knees to go weak all over again. She stopped to gather her wits before she walked into the dining room and the servers saw her flushed face. All she needed was the staff to think something was wrong with her.

Maybe there is?

Sarah walked into the dining room and stopped dead in her tracks. Expecting to find only a servant or two next to the table, she saw her husband sitting at the head of the table.

She looked at the servers who were looking straight ahead, pretending not to be as shocked as she was that he was sitting there.

She chewed on her bottom lip before taking the opportunity for what it was. She was just saying how she was determined to turn their relationship into something more and here was the perfect time to do so.

“Good morning, Your Grace. It is nice to see you.” Sarah sat across from him, unfolding a napkin onto her lap. “Did you sleep well?”

Charles looked up from his plate with a sly grin.

“Worried about my sleeping habits, wife?”

Sarah wrinkled her nose, not catching the double entrendre of his comment.

“Well, of course. I wouldn’t want to find out that you weren’t sleeping well.”

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