Page 53 of Dare to Love a Duke
“Your servant.” He bowed.
It was such a gallant movement she couldn’t stop the flutter of awareness in her stomach. “Let’s find you a room,” she said, trying to make her voice sound as detached and professional as possible.As if that’s likely at all. I’m anidiotawhere he’s concerned.
Gathering her composure, she strode from the kitchen, and heard him follow.
They wound their way up the servants’ stairs.
“The bedchambers are occupied,” she said over her shoulder. “Kitty and Elspeth used to have separate rooms. As of yesterday, they share one now, but Elspeth’s chamber is still full of her things, so I’m afraid there’s no choice but to put you in one of the empty servants’ chambers on the top floor.”
“If it has a mattress and is reasonably free of vermin, it will suit my purposes.”
“If you had been a rat-catcher, I could state with assurance that this house hasn’t any vermin, but you’re only a duke, so...” She shrugged.
Behind her, he gave a soft laugh that stroked hotly along the nape of her neck as surely as if he’d touched her. “Fair enough.”
At the very top of the stairs, she opened a narrow door and stepped into a cramped hallway. “Sometimes our staff sleeps here if they’re too tired after work to go home. We have two girls come in during the day to help clean and cook, but they go home after supper, so you’ll likely be alone up here.”
“Excellent,” he declared brightly. “I can indulge in my midnight vocal calisthenics without fear of disturbing anyone.”
She pressed her lips together but couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “This will be your chamber.”
She waved to an open door, and stood back as he drifted inside.
Inside, the furniture arrangement was simple and serviceable, with a narrow bed, a washstand, and a battered clothespress. The pitch of the roof made him bend slightly to accommodate his height. Surely the valise he set down at the foot of the bed cost more than all of the furnishings together, but he merely looked around with an approving nod.
“Certain you wouldn’t be more comfortable at an inn?” she asked.
He opened his luggage and removed several neatly folded shirts. “There’s more tranquility in this small room than in any of the finest hotel suites.” He set the shirts inside the clothespress, then turned to face her. “I’ll be plain. When I’m near you I feel a sense of... peace.”
Her stomach clenched, but she tried to ignore it. “You didn’t seempeacefulwhen we went to bed together.”
Oh,Dio,why did she say that? Professional distance was what they needed.
“Well, no.” A corner of his mouth curved upward. “I’d had a year of wanting you, and when you gave me the gift of your desire, I wasn’t about to squander it.”
The heat in his gaze proved that, if given that gift once more, he’d take full advantage.
The room became smaller, the air charged. Heat traced along her flesh. She had a vision of him laying her down on the slim bed and kissing his way down her body.
Yet he held himself still, making no move toward her, for which she was grateful.
She forced herself to step back, until she stood in the corridor. “Our work lasts until sunrise,” she said with an attempt at composure, “so I advise you to get some rest. Be downstairs for the staff meal by five o’clock.”
“Sounds as though you intend to run me ragged.”
“Are you game for the challenge?” She planted her hands on her hips.
His gaze held hers and she felt like a girl again, experiencing the heady rush of attraction. “Whatever you throw at me, I’ll be ready for. When I set my mind to something, I don’t stop until I see it through.”
“I remember your... stamina.”Madonna,why did flirtation come so easily when she was with him?
Before she could say anything even more provocative, she turned and sped away. It was her custom to take a small nap before opening for the night, and she’d trained herself to fall asleep within moments.
Yet having him under her roof, knowing he was so close, any attempt at sleep would be fruitless.
Chapter 13
Lying on his bed, hands folded behind his head, Tom stared at the low ceiling pitched just a few feet from his face. He’d tried to open the small window, but had been unsuccessful in unjamming it, and so the air in the chamber was heavy and musty.
