Page 26 of The Winter Rogue
He had clearly been so thrown by their earlier kiss that he'd scurried from the bedchamber without helping her undress.Removing the soaked gown would accomplish two things in Charlene’s mind.First, it prevented her from catching her death of cold while sitting around in a slightly slushy wool gown.Second, it made her tantalizingly available—or so she hoped.
“Oh, here now.Let me help you with that.”A familiar feminine voice sounded just before competent hands offered assistance.
Charlene breathed a sigh of relief.It was Polly, not Drew.Whew!It would have been horribly embarrassing to have him find her partially stuck in her own clothing.Within moments Polly had her down to her chemise, which was just as damp as her gown had been.Charlene whipped it off over her head and slipped under the covers before there could be a mention of bedclothes.
Polly chuckled.“Going to tempt the boy off the cliff, are you?”
“I don't have any clue what you mean,” Charlene replied innocently.“I believe it is good practice to get a body out of all wet garments when they are recovering from exposure to the cold as I am.”
“Indeed, indeed.”Polly winked at her before she set a comb on the bedside table and then bustled around, collecting all her garments and her boots.“I'll just be sure to get these freshly laundered—in case you have need of them in the morning.”
“Thank you.”Charlene smiled at the woman.
“Drew should be up any moment with some soup to warm you up from the inside.”And then the industrious woman was gone.
Charlene set about combing her hair out as she waited for Drew's return.It took him far longer than she had anticipated, and for a time she worried he wasn't coming back.But by the time she had all the tangles out and her hair hung down her back in a damp, but drying mass, he finally appeared.
“I went to clean up myself.”Drew said by way of an explanation.
With the bedcovers held tightly to her chest, Charlene wondered if he'd stopped to pull himself together.To perhaps shore up his will to not touch her again?Oh, that wouldn't do.Not at all.
“Drew.”Charlene hesitated until she was sure she had his attention.“I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night.I was at a loss for how to behave and I am embarrassed to say that when you were amused by that fact, I reverted to old, bad habits with you.I'm sorry.”
Drew set the tray of food down on her lap and stepped back.“The fault is mine.I should never have touched you to begin with.”
Her head snapped up.“What?”
The idiot seemed caught off guard by her dismay at his words.But seriously, was the man apologizing for making love to her?She drew in a slow, fortifying breath and was about to speak when—
“I mean, I'm sorry for taking your virginity when I have nothing to offer you.”Drew winced as he said the words.“Wait!Hell, I'm making a hash of this.”
“Bloody right you are.Don't apologize to me for something we both wanted to happen.”Charlene glared, fury rising with each of his attempts to fix his words.
Drew sat down on the edge of the bed.“You…you don't regret what we did?”
“Good Lord, man!I all but threw myself at you in this very bed not an hour ago.”Charlene couldn't help but to look at him as if he'd been struck in the head.Was the man dense?
“You did.But you are prone to a certain bravado when backed into a corner.I wasn't sure if that was your need to win that had taken over or if you truly didn't regret last night.You seemed to when you threw me out of your room.”
Charlene started to respond, but he cut her off.
“Though you did just apologize for that, didn't you?”He smiled at her warmly.
She let the covers dip to expose the tops of her breasts.“I did, indeed.”
His gaze was drawn to her display like a lodestone, but forced them back up to her face.“I'm sorry if I was amused by your loss of words.It's just that it happens so rarely.”
She wanted to be annoyed by his pseudo-apology but she couldn't, really.He wasn't wrong.She always seemed to have something to say, even when she should not.“Apology accepted.”
He leaned over to kiss her—or so she hoped— but Drew pulled back.He reached up and tucked the covers tightly around her chest and picked up the spoon for the broth.“We'd best feed you this soup while it is hot and before you end up wearing it by accident.”
Charlene’s mouth twisted in a parody of a smile.She wanted to argue, but perhaps if he was going to do the feeding, she'd allow the delay.
Drew brought the first spoonful to her lips and slipped it past.He watched avidly while her lips slid over the bowl of the utensil as he withdrew it from her mouth.The moment was thick with desire and the promise of what was to come.This might be the most tortuous meal she ever ate, but it would be worth it in the end.
By the time Drew had deemed that she'd eaten enough broth, she was very much over the experience of being fed.As he took the tray and set it to the side, she tossed the covers aside to expose her fully nude body.
When he turned back to the bed, his eyes widened in surprise at her boldness.“I don't know what you are playing at, Charlie, but you need to stop it.You nearly froze to death out there.You need to rest and recover.”His words dropped like a death knell to her plans as he pulled the covers back over her body.
