Page 52 of Married to the Icy Duke
Charlotte sucked in a breath, sitting up, and stared in faint horror at the door.
“Joanie?” she managed weakly.
“Why in heaven’s name is there a trail of paint leading up the stairs? What is …”
The door to the washroom swung open, and Isaac appeared in the doorway.
Their gazes fell on each other, and there was a moment of dawning realization. Isaac’s eyes flicked down her bare skin, landing on her naked breasts, visible above the water. His gaze skidded across the surface of the bathtub, as though he might see what was beneath the waterthere.
Charlotte managed a strangled, undignified squeak and plunged herself into the water up to her eyes.
“Turn around!” she demanded, through a mouthful of water. “Turn around atonce!”
Belatedly, Isaac obeyed, presenting his broad, velvet-clad back.
“Heavens, woman, don’t you lock the door?” he growled.
Charlotte could not quite bring herself to leave the water to reach her drying sheet, not even with his back turned.
“Howdareyou!” she gasped. Her face, she was sure, was as red as a beetroot. “You barged into myprivate washroomwithout knocking!”
“I did not know you were taking a bath,” he responded tartly. “It is the middle of the afternoon.”
“Well, I was covered in paint.”
“That explains the trail of paint, then,” Isaac muttered. “I won’t ask youhowyou came to be covered in paint, as I rather think I don’t want to know.”
Charlotte summoned her courage and leaned forward, snatching up the drying sheet.
“Is that what you came here for, then?” she muttered. “To scold me for getting paint everywhere?”
He diligently kept his back turned, but she was sure she saw his shoulders stiffen.
“If you must know,” he answered tartly, “I came to apologize.”
She gave a short laugh. “Apologize? You?”
“Hmph. Yes, me. I find myself thinking about the kisses you and I shared. The fact is, you had requested to be left alone. I ought to have respected that. And so, I am sorry.”
There was a brief pause after this. Charlotte sat upright, a little uncertainly, and eyed his back.
“I am not sure that an apology is necessary,” she ventured at last. “It isn’t as if you stole those kisses. Besides, we will be married soon, and then it will not matter.”
She rose carefully to her feet, water splashing around her, and hastily wrapped the sheet around herself. It was a good, long sheet, long enough for the edges to dangle in the bathwater, but Charlotte still did not feelcoveredenough.
“That is what I came to discuss with you,” Isaac answered, his voice steady. “Once we are married, schedule and routine must be the order of the day. That is how I want to raise Tommy, and we should start as we mean to go on.”
She gave a short, incredulous laugh. “You must be joking.”
He made an abortive movement as if planning to turn around, but stopped himself in time.
“I am entirely serious,” he responded coolly. “Children need structure.”
“Well, yes, to a certain degree,” Charlotte answered, pulling a handful of wet hair over her shoulder and squeezing out the water. Despite her best efforts, the ends had trailed in the water anyway. She would need to dry it properly before dinner. The bath sheet was sticking to her body, too. “Children require a littlestructure, but mostly, they needlove.They need love, freedom, and fun. I won’t follow your rules if I believe they are not in Tommy’s best interests.”
Abruptly, Isaac spun around and came stomping towards her, his eyes narrowing. Charlotte, still knee-deep in bathwater, flinched away, eyes wide.
“Tommy ismynephew, I’d thank you to remember.”
