Page 34 of The Good Duke
She scrambled from Simon’s arms and went to rescue her leather sketch pad. “You won’t regret this,” she said, flipping through the pages of the back of her book.
She plucked free a small charcoal pencil she’d tucked there, hurried to a nearby boulder, sat, and stared expectantly at him.
Persephone gave a little nod.
A fresh set of embarrassment filled his cheeks. “I…close your eyes.”
“But I’m going to see—” Persephone stopped herself before finishing her sentence and then did as he’d requested.
Yes, she was right in what she’d been about to say—she was going to seeallof him.
Keeping an eye on her, Simon shrugged out of his trousers first. All the while he disrobed, Persephone kept her eyes firmly shut.
He kicked his pants aside, and then, drawing a deep breath, collected the hem of his lawn shirt.
“You don’t have to do this, Simon,” Persephone said gently, her eyes, as she’d promised, still closed.
With that second, selfless pardon, Simon pulled his shirt off. He’d do this for her. He’d doanythingfor her. Just as she’d do anything for him. She was, quite simply, his best friend.
He nodded before remembering she couldn’t see him.
Clearing his throat, Simon called out, “Y-You can open them.”
In an apparent offer for him to change his mind, Persephone hesitated a long moment more and then, slowly, she opened her eyes.
Her gaze landed on his, and then she crept her focus lower and lower, still lower—and then she stopped.
His entire body went hot. Who knew a person could wear a blush everywhere? Including on that very part of him Persephone now examined.
At his sides, he balled and unballed his hands into tight fists and relaxed into being Seph’s art study.
After an endless stretch of time, she finally looked up; shock and wonderment glimmered in her expressive eyes. “You’ve grown, Simon.”
Present Day
Simon Broadbent’s Bedroom
You’ve grown, Simon?
Thatwas what she’d say?
Simon shook his head hard, dislodging thoughts of the last time Persephone uttered those very same words she’d now just spoken in his bedroom.
Determined to send her on her way so that he could make himself decent, Simon gave Persephone a pointed look.
“Given my state of undress and your presence, Persephone,” he said with all the calm he could muster, “I’m not going to discuss anything further with you. If you will find a room, I’ll be along shortly.”
She beamed. “Splendid!”
Apparently, that wasn’t even enough to dispel the minx.
“I am so looking forward to speaking with—”
“Get the hell out, Persephone.”
That did the trick.
Whipping around, Persephone bolted for the exit. She paused briefly with her fingers on the handle.
