Page 34 of With Good Grace
Jake rolled his eyes. ‘Feel free to use one of the maids here to attend you.’
‘Thank you, but Jane is accustomed to looking after me in Molly’s absence.’
‘There again, I make an effective lady’s maid, so I am told.’
‘Always so modest, Lord Torbay.’
He affected surprise. ‘I have something to be modest about?’
The luncheon gong sounded, preventing Olivia from voicing the spirited response he did not doubt she was in the process of formulating.
‘Come,’ he said, standing and offering her his arm. ‘If you are contemplating sexual gymnastics then you need to keep your strength up.’
Olivia shook her head as she placed her hand on his sleeve. She tried to look disapproving but he could sense her fighting a smile as she left the room at his side.
Chapter Nine
Olivia and Jake spent the afternoon going through Marcus’s boxes. She was worried what other salacious documents she might find, not for her own sake but for Tom’s. If Marcushadbeen a blackmailer and that information became public knowledge, Tom would be tainted by association before his life had properly begun. It seemed so unfair!
‘I can do this alone,’ Jake said softly, happening to look up at the precise moment when Olivia was staring out of the window, biting her lower lip in her anxiety at that disturbing possibility.
‘Not at all. I was just taking a moment to reflect.’
‘Naturally you were.’ His smile, drenched in warmth, reassured her. ‘Whatever Marcus was or did, it will not reflect upon you,’ he said softly. ‘I will not allow it.’
How well he knows me and so accurately anticipates my thoughts. ‘Thank you, but I would still prefer to know.’
‘There are not many boxes left and thus far we have not found anything incriminating.’
‘True,’ Olivia replied, ‘but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find.’
She sighed and returned her attention to the next box. They sorted with swift efficiency, for the most part talking only when Jake needed her to clarify whether she wanted to retain a particular document. She became less and less particular in that respect.
‘I cannot see that negotiations between his father and an actor no one has ever heard of will be of any interest to Tom,’ she said, glancing at documents which Jake handed to her.
‘Then the fire is the best place for them,’ Jake replied, consigning them to the flames.
They stopped for tea after several hours of steady work.
‘Here is the copy of Marcus’s contract that I told you about earlier.’ Olivia passed the document to Jake and then stood with her hands on the small of her back, ineffectually attempting to dislodge the kinks that several hours of bending over stuffy papers had caused to accumulate there.
‘Thank you.’ Jake put the contract aside and stood also. He positioned himself behind her and placed his hands on her rigid shoulders, massaging her tight muscles until a slight sigh slipped past her lips and the tension in her tired joints miraculously faded away. She closed her eyes and rolled her head from side to side.
‘Hmm,’ she whispered.
‘You look more contented than Tabitha when she roasts herself in front of the fire.’ His voice was a velvety smooth whisper against her ear and made her shiver with desire.
‘Are you comparing me to a cat, Lord Torbay?’ Olivia thought she ought to be affronted by the suggestion, but that would require her to dislodge his hands in order to take umbrage, which was quite simply out of the question. Her eyes remained closed, his hands continued to work their magic and she resisted the urge to purr, thereby proving his point.
His deep laugh was imbued with a wealth of meaning. ‘I have a great fondness for felines of all persuasions. I admire their independence and lithe grace.’
‘But they also have claws,’ she reminded him. ‘Oh, that’s heavenly!’ She flexed her shoulders beneath his hands. ‘Don’t stop.’
‘Tabitha has never scratched me.’
‘Ah, but I am not as easily satisfied as Tabitha.’
Another throaty chuckle was his only response.
