Page 28 of His Perfect Bride
Stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets, he shifted around and faced her again. This time, he took her in from her neat chignon to her simple but fashionable blouse and skirt—another outfit that Augusta had given to her.
He’d been able to view her for who she really was all along. He’d even gotten a glimpse of her not-so-perfect side, and he wasn’t mad at her. But he’d been hidden and was now just beginning to show who he really was. In some ways it felt as if they were meeting for the first time—at least from her perspective.
As his gaze slid back up her body, the intense heat in his eyes once again warmed her and even sent a strange tremor through her stomach.
He tilted his head to one side as if he were still analyzing her and calculating something about her. “Thank you. You were kind to be willing to aid me so graciously and with something that falls outside your duties.”
Her duties. He was right. She was only a lady’s maid. How could she forget about that even for a second?
“That’s what I’m here for. To help.” She curtsied and then resumed picking up the rest of the items she’d brought out. Somehow she needed to put their relationship back into the proper order and do away with the familiarity.
“Yes, I guess that’s true.” He hesitated then glanced at the house, as if expecting someone to be peering out at them from one of the windows, watching them.
No one was in sight.
Regardless, she hastened to dump the water from the basin, tossed the supplies in it, and then crossed to the servants’ entrance that led to the kitchen in the lower level. All the while, she could feel Jackson watching her. And all the while, her body tingled with the realization he was watching her.
When she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, she leaned back against it, pressed a hand to her chest and to her heartbeat that was racing faster than normal. Then she lifted her hand to her cheek which felt hotter than usual.
What was wrong with her? Was she letting Jackson fluster her?
With a firm shake of her head, she started down the dark hallway toward the kitchen. “No,” she whispered harshly. Just because he was surprisingly attractive didn’t mean she would let him turn her head. Nothing good would come of allowing that to happen.
She didn’t want to lose herself over another man. She was content working for Augusta and had already resigned herself to being a spinster.
Besides, as kind and progressive as Augusta was, she wouldn’t approve of Sage spending time with Jackson. Even the smallest hint of inappropriate behavior would be grounds for dismissal, and at this point, Sage needed the job too much to do anything that might jeopardize it.
Just because she’d cut Jackson’s hair didn’t mean anything would change in their relationship. It would go on as it always had, and that’s all she had to say on the matter.
Ten
“Istill don’t know how you convinced Jackson to get a haircut and shave.” Augusta sat stiffly on the stool in front of the dressing table.
Behind her, Sage pressed a sponge with bandoline over Augusta’s finished coiffure to hold the elaborate style in place as she prepared for the dinner party. The clear, gummy mixture was scented with orange flower and worked wonders at preventing Augusta’s hair from becoming frizzy, as well as holding in the florets woven throughout the arrangement.
The bedchamber was alight with sconces and lanterns, illuminating the gilded mirror and Augusta’s reflection. In her new gown of the loveliest pale gold, Augusta shimmered like gold herself.
Sage had never seen the woman so radiant or so happy, so much that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shining.
“Tell me your secret in getting Jackson to do whatever you want him to.” Augusta held up a pearl earring to her ear and then waited for Sage’s input.
“I have no secret.” Sage shook her head at Augusta’s choice and then pointed to the delicate gold flower earrings which were more elegant and matched the gown better.
Augusta placed the pearl back on the fluted crystal dish on the dressing table among an array of additional jewelry she’d brought with her from England. “You most certainly have cast a spell over him.”
“There’s no spell either, ma’am.” Sage could feel that strange warmth starting to flutter low in her stomach—the one that had been creeping out from time to time since the haircut yesterday, especially whenever she saw Jackson, even from a distance.
The warm flutters had turned into steadily crashing waves the few times he’d sought her out and talked to her during the past twenty-four hours. Just this morning, he’d asked her again for some advice in organizing another group of diagrams that he’d unearthed from a closet.
Although she’d been busy ironing linen napkins for the dinner party, she’d wanted to help him and had taken much more time than she should have in his study, talking about the old designs he’d once made.
Throughout it all, she’d tried not to pay attention to how he looked. In fact, she’d even attempted to visualize him as a shaggy beast again so that she wouldn’t think about how sharply attractive he was. But invariably, every time she was around him, she couldn’t keep from admiring him and everything about his appearance.
Now, as the dinner hour ticked closer, Sage was wavering between dread and desire in seeing him again. But she’d never, ever admit to Augusta that Jackson was the one with the secret in getting her to do whatever he wanted and that Jackson was the one casting a spell over her.
“Well,” Augusta said as she picked up the gold earring and began to fasten it. “You’ve worked a miracle for which I’m grateful.”
“You’re the one who worked the miracle by coming here and giving him the gentle push he needed to start living again.”
