Page 70 of Indecently Employed
“No! Nothing of the sort. I only…” She felt a flutter, realizing that the girl who had been her pupil was soon to becomeher daughter. And although she felt she had finally unraveled the youthful pretense and angst to reveal the true person underneath, Susanna couldn’t say just how Charlotte would respond to the news. “I admit I was looking forward to seeing Charlotte. I missed her.” She glanced sideways at Ajax. “Have you mentioned…” She paused, then began once more. “Have you mentioned the prospect of our marriage to her?”
He lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing an affectionate kiss on her fingers before answering with a clipped “No.”
“I see.”
“Does that upset you?”
“It is a bit disquieting.”
Ajax released a deep sigh and gathered her up against him, his body warm and solid. He didn’t speak again, only placed another kiss on the top of her bonnet, and held her close for the rest of the drive.
By the time they arrived in Bournemouth, darkness had been settled upon them for a long while. They drove through a gate and up to a grand white building in the classical style, complete with white columns.
“Unfortunately, I doubt there’s much I could do that would compel a minister out of bed at this hour.” He disentangled his arm from Susanna, holding her slightly apart from him as he stared at her, his eyes dark. “Would you prefer a separate room this evening?”
Susanna drew a breath. “Absolutely not,” she whispered, startled by the fierceness of her own voice.
Ajax laughed. They stepped out of the carriage, and Susanna could smell the salt in the air and hear the waves crashing.So this is a seaside resort, she realized, looking down the length of the hotel before them. When she’d traveled to the seaside with the Pritchards, they’d taken rooms at a very charming and respectable little inn; nothing quite so modern and imposing asthis. She found herself taken in by the spectacle of it all, from the twin staircases that flanked the entrance to the massive gas chandelier inside, heavy and sparkling with cut glass.
He’d sent his valet ahead to Bournemouth that morning to secure their lodging, so there was no need to wait at all. As they made their way to their rooms, Susanna glanced at Ajax, wondering just what he felt about all this ostentatious showiness.
She’d have been more impressed by their accommodations if she hadn’t already become used to the luxury of his guest rooms, both in London and up in Yorkshire. Still, she found herself opening the door to a very pretty balcony. The salt air came up to meet her in a rush, and although she could see naught in the black of night with the moon so thin, she stood out there in her cloak for what seemed like hours, listening to the waves crashing on the shore as Ajax requested dinner from the footman.
Finally she looked back over her shoulder into the room, only to find him seated on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, watching her. A slight grin played at his lips.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her cheeks warm.
“The same as you. Enjoying the view.”
She smiled and, acutely aware of her body’s movements, went inside and latched the door.
“Dinner’s come. Would you care to eat?”
She’d been famished earlier, in the carriage, but she shook her head as she watched him stand and saunter over, that devilish grin still on his face.
“Of course,” he murmured, coming to a halt mere inches from her.
Her breathing sped up, and she allowed herself to be pulled into his orbit, abandoning all reason and self-consciousness, her awareness focused solely and completely on him.
He held her gaze, burning her with his intensity. He reached for her cloak to unbutton it.
“You’re certain,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Of everything? Of this?” He pushed her cloak to the floor and gestured to their surroundings with his chin.
“Yes,” she managed to reply. “It’s a very fine hotel.”
He laughed, and ran a hand through his hair. Her heart surged.
“It is, isn’t it?” He reached for her hand, and caressed her fingers with his thumb. “But my meaning is, are you certain about us? Being married in the morning? By a stranger? Without your father, your family?”
“Oh.” She looked down at their hands, finding herself hypnotized by the way his fingers held hers, the way his thumb rubbed against her knuckles. Her body tingled, and she licked her lips. “Yes. I’m certain.” She looked back to him, her lashes fluttering as she laid eyes on his face once more.
He pulled her against him, one hand sliding up her back. He smiled, but it broke as quickly as it had appeared, and he swallowed, his eyes anxiously searching hers. “You’re certain of me?”
“Oh, Ajax,” she murmured, placing a hand on his cheek. “I do not encourage my charges to take half measures when embarking on a new endeavor,” she said through a joyful smile, “and neither do I.”
“It’d be a bit hypocritical, that.”
She turned her head to the side to laugh a little. “Which is to say, I have no doubts. My body already chose yours absolutely, in totality. And now my heart chooses you above all others on God’s green earth.”
