Page 25 of The Duke Says I Do
“And I should go,” Portia said again, as Matty fastened the rope to Jupiter’s collar.
“Not looking like that, you won’t,” Granville said. “I’ve got an idea, if you’ll come across to the house.”
“But I’ll be seen.”
“Borrow my greatcoat and hat. We need to get you out of the stables, in case my grooms remember they have duties beyond spending their employer’s coin at the King’s Head.”
He collected his coat and draped it across her shoulders. Wrapping her in a garment that belonged to him filled him with deep masculine satisfaction. This close, he noticed her shivering. It would be nice if she reacted to his presence, but he suspected that she was just cold in her wet dress.
An impression confirmed when she clutched the voluminous folds around her. He passed her his hat. “Pull this down over your face. It should do to get us across the garden. The house’s public areas should be empty at this hour.”
“Thank you.”
He waited for her to put the hat on, before he dared to tuck the long tail of wet blond hair under her collar. He collected her pelisse from the stall gate. “Let’s go.”
Taking her arm, he steered her out of the stables and across the cobbled yard to the gate in the garden wall. Granville liked escorting Lady Portia even more than he liked her wearing his coat. He didn’t like that she returned to her father’s house. Something primitive inside him insisted that she belonged at his side, that they should always walk together like this.
He heard a howl of protest behind him, a shout from Matty, and Phipps using language that he’d never permit in front of his employer. A scrabble of paws on cobblestones, and a black-and-white shape came barreling in their direction.
Granville felt Portia’s low chuckle in his balls. Despite his wet clothes, heat rushed through him and his hand tightened on her arm.
“I’m not sure how much work your new kennel master will have to do. Jupiter wants to be with you.”
As the dog skittered through the open gate, Granville gave a long-suffering sigh. “I told you he’s fallen victim to my fatal charm.”
“He’s not the only one,” Portia muttered.
“What…” Before he could respond to that astonishing remark, Matty appeared at the gate. “Your Grace, I couldn’t hold him.”
“He can come inside. I’ll bring him back, once I’ve got her ladyship sorted out.”
“Very good, sir.”
Portia studied the stocky dog. “If you imagine he’s sleeping anywhere but in your bedroom, you’re very much mistaken.”
Granville shut the garden gate behind them. “Are you sure?”
Her short laugh was answer enough.
He drew Portia toward the terrace along the back of the house. The idea of kissing her, now that he finally had some privacy, struck him. Or at least shifted to the forefront of his mind. The regrettable truth was that kisses had occupied his thoughts for most of the afternoon and evening.
But he was freezing and she must be, too. He’d kiss her after she was warm and dry.
On that highly satisfactory conclusion, Granville brought Lady Portia Frain inside his house for the first time.
Chapter 7
Without speaking, Granville led her through a garden lit with charcoal braziers. They climbed stone steps to a terrace extending the length of the house. Torches at either end of the terrace and candlelight from inside outlined Granville’s profile, as finely cut as a face on a new-minted coin.
Portia had always thought that he was handsome, but it had seemed a cold beauty. Now that aristocratic face stirred a tidal wave of longing. And she had no idea what to do about it.
He unlatched a glass door and sneaked her into a morning room. She took a moment to appreciate her elegant surroundings, before he opened a door to reveal a black-and-white tiled hallway and a staircase leading upwards.
His destination turned out to be his rooms on the upper floor. “Granville…” she whispered.
He lifted a finger to his lips, as he opened the door to a luxurious sitting room decorated in shades of green and cream. Jupiter trotted inside before Granville shut the door.
“You’re safe here,” he said in a low voice, ushering her into the bedroom and passing her the pelisse. “But my valet will listen for my return. Go behind the screen and I’ll send him on his way.”
