Page 62 of Anything But a Duke
The question hung in the air like an echo, and the longer he failed to answer, the more she wished to repeat it. Over and over, if necessary, until she got an answer.
“I thought we could both sit on this side. United in our efforts to woo Mr. Repton. Is there anything you’d like to know about him to better prepare you before he arrives?”
“I memorized your notes.”
“Then you know as much about him as I do.”
“They were very thorough.” She studied him a moment. “You notice a lot about people. Little details that others might miss.”
He shrugged as if to downplay her praise. “A gambler’s skill. You learn to look for details, tells that give away people’s intentions.” He gestured vaguely toward where he’d placed her case on a long table. “Do you need help assembling your machine?”
In her curiosity to inspect the room, she’d neglected to set up the pneumatic pump.
“I need to prime this. It won’t take me long.” She approached the table and extracted all the pieces, taking care not to drop or bump anything. The metal tubes were sturdy and the pump was made to take exertion, but the memory of the disaster at the Duke’s Den would always stick in her head.
“Let me help you.” The sincerity in his tone made her relent.
“Take that lever and pump until you feel resistance.” Diana approached and reached for his hand, placing it just so on the metal bar and indicating where it hooked into the pneumatic device.
His hands were warm, and the brief contact sent a shiver up her arm. She turned her attention back to assembling the rest of the device, if only to distract herself from her reaction to him.
“I’m seeking to solve a mystery,” Iverson said quietly behind her.
Diana spun to face him. He’d approached and stood not far behind, his gaze uncertain. Wary. She waited, sensing that if she could just hold back her tendency to demand answers, he might give them freely.
“I didn’t know the men. They were thieves with a violent bent. I was in Belgravia that night to seek information.” He tilted his head to stare at the ceiling, flicked his coat back, and braced his hands on his narrow hips. “About my family.”
“Why?” So many thoughts raced through her head that she couldn’t form a question other than the single word. “Are you estranged from them?”
“More than estranged. I never knew my father, and I barely recall my mother. My sister and I were left at a workhouse when I was three. The place is gone now. Burned, along with all details about my mother and father or any other family I might have.”
“And your sister?” Diana moved a few steps closer, aching to reach for him.
They’d held on to each other once. Strangers on a rainy night whom fate had brought together. She had no regrets about the familiarities she’d allowed or the kiss she’d taken.
Now she wanted to offer that comfort again. A touch. An embrace. Anything to ease a bit of the misery in his gaze.
“Lost,” he said on a broken whisper.
Diana closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head fit just underneath his chin, and she pressed her cheek against his chest.
Heat crept up her face as he tensed, and she considered retreating.
But then his arms came around her, pulling her into his body. This close, she could feel the mad thrash of his heartbeat and the unsteady gust of his breath against her hair.
“I want to help,” she whispered.
“You are,” he finally said, his voice deep and husky and warm.
“No, Mr. Iverson.” Diana tipped her head back to look at him. The afternoon light brightened his eyes to a cooler green. “With solving your mystery, I mean.”
“No.” He tensed again, but didn’t let her go.
There was a finality in his tone, but Diana couldn’t stop herself from trying.
“Taking matters apart, finding answers to questions that sometimes haven’t even been asked—those are the only things I’m truly good at.”
He turned his head and loosened his hold. Being near him, touching him in such a familiar manner, was entirely inappropriate. She knew all the rules of etiquette by heart. They’d been drilled into her at Bexley and she’d excelled at learning them all. But they seemed far away, and he was here before her, tall and warm and holding her protectively close.
