Page 25 of An Earl to Remember
Noise clattered to the side, and she moved away from the window as the kitchen doors opened and the earl spilled inside with her sister, both pressing their backs against the door as if they expected Hetty to try and break down the oak. Anna’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes twinkled with delight. Georgianna’s heart kicked uncomfortably at the way she peered up at the earl. Her sister had lost their parents when she was only two years old and had missed having a father in her life. The manner in which Anna stared at the earl now suggested she was already adoring his presence here.
Georgianna cleared her throat, and the earl straightened from the door. He walked toward her and held out the basket. “Mrs. Stannis, your eggs.”
Her throat squeezed. It wasn’t an endearment, but the way he said it felt far too intimate. She took the basket and wetted her lips, not liking the dip in her belly or the increase in her heartbeat. Georgianna stepped away from him, and his shrewd gaze noted her actions.
“Thank you. I see you’ve met Anna; she is my youngest sister. Sarah shall be inside soon. Please allow me to introduce Elizabeth, my sister closest to me in age.”
Lizzie came forward and dipped into a curtsy. “I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Stannis.”
He bowed and murmured, “I am charmed, Miss Heyford.”
“Oh, please do call me Lizzie.”
A quick peek at Lizzie showed that she stared at the earl with wide eyes and pink-tinged cheeks.
“Very well, Lizzie,” he said. “I shall continue with my…chores and hope I am spared from further harm.” His tone was grave, but his eyes glinted with humor.
It was then she noted the scraped skin on his knuckles.
“You were pecked!”
His gaze lowered to the reddened areas. “I’ll survive. I am not so delicate.”
Their gazes collided, and inexplicably her heart turned over in response. Georgianna’s fingers tightened on the basket, and she hurriedly looked away from him, lest he saw her shattering awareness of him in her expression. She almost groaned at the shocked look on Lizzie’s face as her gaze swung between them before shuffling toward Anna and the door.
“Lizzie,” she began, oddly desperate for her sister to not leave them alone.
“I must see to Sarah and Anna’s education,” Lizzie said with a bright smile. “We shall return when breakfast is ready.”
Clasping the hand of an evidently disappointed Anna within her own, Lizzie opened the door and escaped with their sister. Georgianna looked up at the earl and stilled. He was watching her, the gleam in his eyes far too perceptive and perhaps a bit cunning. She took a measured step away from him, setting down the basket on the stone island in the kitchen.
Oh, why am I so nervous to be alone with him?“Would you like some oatmeal while I prepare the eggs and toast?”
“Thank you,” he murmured and went to sit on the long kitchen bench, folding his arms on the table.
Georgianna almost groaned. The blasted man planned to simply sit there and watch her. A searing flash of awareness burned through her. The earl’s eyes were like phantom fingers, caressing over her nape…down to the line of her back, to linger on her derriere. It was so terrible that she couldfeelhis stare. Worse, the silence felt heavy with an awareness she did not understand.
Conscious of his gaze upon her, she went about ladling the porridge into a bowl, mortified that it had a small chip on the edge. She searched the cupboard for something better, but they all held one imperfection after the other. Pushing aside the feeling of embarrassment, she took the bowl over and lowered it to the table.
“Where did you sleep last night…and the night before?”
Georgianna could only stare at him with helpless surprise. His expression as he watched her remained unfathomable, but there seemed to only be genuine curiosity in his tone. Of course he would have such questions. She was pretending they were husband and wife. “I…in my room.”
He reached for the bowl, his fingers grazing hers. She realized he had been quite deliberate in his touch, perhaps curious as to how she would react to him. Georgianna did her best to not appear skittish. Still, that single lingering caress had her belly knotting with a tight tension.
His eyes lit with a knowing gleam, and she flushed.
“Do you intend for us to occupy separate bedchambers, wife?” His gaze glowed with the promise of wickedness.
Her knees grew so weak they felt as if they folded beneath her as she sat on the bench facing him.
“It is the way of married couples,” she said evenly.
Even her parents had existed so. Surely that was considered the norm, given they had been deeply in love with each other.
“Is that how you wish to exist nightly, sleeping away from my arms?”
Heat swept through her body at the image his words provoked. Her heart stuttering, she said, “Yes. You…you need rest and healing.”
