Page 94 of His Duchess of Scandal
“Fine,” Phoebe sighed. “Maybe the blueberry and jasmine one. Or the lime one! Hmm, no, I do not like the sound of that. Oh, it says apple and peach here, but I had apples yesterday, so maybe…”
Hermia watched, amused, as the girl made a great show of choosing a flavor.
“Cherry!” she finally decided with a bright smile.
“Cherry it is, then,” Charles said, before she could change her mind.
Within minutes, they each had their order, and Phoebe positively dug into hers most messily. Her spoon was practically a shovel, her hands eager and fast.
Charles ate slowly and surely, far too gracefully to truly enjoy it.
“Charles,” Hermia snickered. “Youdoknow how to enjoy ice, do you not?”
“Of course, I am enjoying it.”
“You must really get enthusiastic about it,” she urged, digging into her ice with vigor. “We are in a tea shop, not a dinner party or a grand ball. Relax a little bit.”
“I am perfectly fine with eating the way I—” He broke off when Phoebe scooped up some of his ice and, very deliberately, smeared it on his dark gray cravat.
Charles stiffened, his face frozen in shock, but Hermia let out a peal of laughter that garnered just as much attention as Phoebe’s excitement had.
Charles cut a mock glare at Phoebe, who giggled innocently.
“Whoops, my hand slipped. I swear it, Papa!”
“Oh, it did, did it not? I suppose you did not purposefully reach over to ruin my cravat, then?”
“Absolutely not, Papa. Hermia agrees, do you not?”
“Yes, Hermia,do you not?”
Something swept through Hermia at his teasing tone, a burning heat that contrasted with the ice melting on her tongue.
“Phoebe, do fetch me a napkin.”
Phoebe was still laughing when she slid down from her seat.
“I do, indeed,” Hermia answered, once they had a moment alone, reaching over to wipe some of the ice from his cravat.
She pressed the tip of her finger discreetly to her tongue and made a show of humming. His gaze darkened, and she could swear she heard a low growl rumble in his chest.
“Ah, you are right. Sometimes simple pleasures are better.”
“Are you quite finished?” he asked tightly.
“No.”
Hermia flashed him an innocent look as she took the napkins Phoebe brought with her, but the little girl was already speaking about how she had found the counter where they scooped the ices and how she wouldbe right over there!
It allowed Hermia to take her time wiping Charles’s cravat. Her face burned, and she didn’t care if anybody saw them. Not when she could feel his broad chest beneath her hand.
Charles swallowed, and she shivered at the sound. Swipe by swipe, she mopped up the ice, biting her lip when she brushed his chest.
He leaned into her, his voice pitched dangerously low. “If you like the taste of it so much and find humor in my misfortune, then perhaps I should press the cravat into your mouth later tonight. Then, we shall see how much you laugh.”
He gave her a long look, his brow quirking in a way that should have been positively arrogant, but only made her breath come faster.
She had not gathered her thoughts by the time Phoebe returned, grinning about how the lady behind the counter had shown her how to scoop up a generous helping.
