Page 12 of The Duke's Christmas Scandal
Her body might say yes, but her good sense held her back.You’re being a fool,she told herself.He hasn’t offered a kiss. Or anything else.
She burrowed into the down-filled coverlet, taking up as little space as possible while Ian rearranged himself on the mattress. They lay there, side-by-side, touching as little as possible, for several breathless moments.
“Ian?”
“Yes, Mrs. Dawson?”
“I’m about to fall out. May I move closer?”
He grunted and shifted slightly. Tavi wriggled until their shoulders touched. Her foot brushed his leg.
“Ian?”
“Yes?”
“I’m not married.”
He chuckled, a low rumble that did more to warm her than a blazing bonfire would have. “I guessed as much. Why are you telling me the truth now?”
Her cheeks warmed.Because I want to kiss you.“I don’t like lying.”
“Does anyone?”
“There are people who don’t… never mind.”
He didn’t press the point.
“Any woman who’s frightened enough to attack a man with a poker can be forgiven for creating a fictional husband for protection. I didn’t intend to scare you, earlier.”
Mortified, Tavi pulled the coverlet up to her chin. “I was ridiculous. Breaking into an empty house and then coming at you like that.”
“It’s forgotten. If I may ask an intrusive question, how did you wind up a spinster?”
Tavi made a face. “Poor luck and a poorer attitude, if you ask my mother. You can’t, though; she’s deceased.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a relief, in the end. She was very ill, for years.”
“And that’s why you never married?”
“Partly. I did have a suitor once. We planned to marry.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“He’d promised the same to another woman.”
“Rude.”
“Terribly. She had a dowry three times the size of mine and didn’t have an ailing mother to care for. The news of his wedding came as a complete shock.”
“This is cold comfort, Tavi, but I’m glad you didn’t end up with him.”
“I am, too.” She sighed. “After that, I focused on caring for my mother. I never really found time to seek a husband.” Tavi stared up at the ceiling. “It’s not as if I had many callers. My choices were few and far between, what with this hair.”
The mattress dipped as her companion shifted. Tavi’s heart thumped against her ribs. She shouldn’t have said all that. She’d always had a habit of being too open, too honest…too much.
Ian propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her.
