Page 39 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
He watched her go, feeling wrongfooted at every turn. He got to his feet, meaning to follow her and find out just what she meant by the kiss. He wanted to grab her arm and pull her to him, hold her flush against him, and show her what a kiss could feel like.
He stood frozen, listening to her footsteps disappearing down the hall. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Goodnight, Ava,” he said softly.
Ava’s heart was hammering, and her hands were shaking. She could not believe she had had the audacity to do what she had just done. She’d heard Edward’s small gasp and knew he was just as affected as she had been. She put her fingers to her mouth, recalling the feel of his roughened skin.
There was no feeling of disgust or revulsion. Simply a soft sympathy for the pain he’d suffered and a quickening of her pulse at his nearness. She lay back down on the bed with a long sigh, feeling quite pleased with her evening.
She could not wait for tomorrow to come. Now that she had a plan, she was excited about the future and believed that everything she wanted, she could have.
I just have to have a little faith.
Edward showed Marcus to the steward’s room. “It hasn’t been used in a while,” he said doubtfully. The room was free of dust thanks to Ava’s efforts at spring cleaning, but other than that, it looked exactly like what it was.
A room that had fallen into disuse.
Old records lined the shelves on three walls of the room while the fourth was composed of French windows that opened out into the garden. The rest of the room consisted of locked cabinets standing on a faded turkey rug.
“My father was a drunk who neglected his legacy. If it were not for my brother, I don’t know if we would have survived. He tried his best to keep things running, but he was just a boy himself. Now, however, I have a chance to finish what he started.” Edward turned to Marcus. “And you are going to help me. You knew him just about as well as anyone who was not me would. I need you to help me bring his dreams to life.”
Marcus nodded. “He spoke of you often and fondly. Your loyalty, your fierceness…” Marcus smiled. “I don’t know what I can do to help incarnate Lord Jonathan’s dreams, but whatever I can do, I am willing.”
Edward blinked a few times to dispel the mistiness from his eyes. He nodded firmly, “Good.” He walked toward the door. “I will give you some time to get acquainted with the records. When you are ready, come and find me in my study.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Edward walked down the corridor, listening to the house stir around him. Warm rays of sunlight peeked through the still-drawn curtains as he walked past the parlor on the way to the morning room. He had yet to have breakfast and hoped he could get something as he was rather peckish.
He stopped short in the doorway, blinking rapidly, wondering if he had fallen down and hit his head. The sun was streaming in through the sheer curtains, bathing the woman who sat at the end of the table in golden light. Her brunette curls shone with glinting highlights making her seem to have a halo. She wore a white shawl over her nightgown, the only thing covering the very thin and sheer material.
She looked up and smiled, and his heart stopped. Blue eyes that were piercing in the intense morning light shone at him as if she was very pleased to see him. She got to her feet, and his eyes raked her body. He could feel the space in his breeches rapidly diminishing.
“Good morning,” she said.
He opened his mouth to answer, and nothing came out but a click. She indicated the chair to her right, “Will you join me?”
He nodded unthinkingly and found that he was walking toward her without having consciously decided to do so. She sat back down with a smile and a nod, and he took the seat on her left, his eyes not leaving her all the while.
“You look…” he began to say but then lost track of what he wanted to say.
She quirked an eyebrow, leaning closer as if to hear him better. “How do I look?”
“Er…well, you look like you had a good night’s sleep.”
“I did.” She confirmed, taking a sip of tea. “What are you up to today? Do you have some time for us?”
“Uh, well… I, er. The new steward is… but of course, I can spare some time… for you.”
Her face lit up with excitement, and he could not help but smile back. She clapped her hands excitedly. “That is wonderful. The village is having a fair today, and I so wanted us to take Lily. She has never been to one.”
“She has never been to a fair? How so?”
Ava shrugged, self-deprecatingly. “Well, we couldn’t leave the house much in London without being shunned. I couldn’t subject Lily to that.”
Edward frowned, as he gave her a concerned look. “Ava? Do you mind telling me what happened to Lily’s father?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “You mean Lord Aaron Fenton? Nothing ‘happened’ to him. He simply misled me, coerced me, seduced me, and then rejected me.”
Edward’s frown deepened. “I had heard he was a bit of a rake but nothing this awful. How was he allowed to get away with it?”
