Page 54 of A Touch of Charm
He deflated.
But, of course, he stayed.
Anything for my princess.
“I just don’t want to be alone.” Thea wrung her hands and came to Andre’s side, eyeing him with the innocence of a woman who surely didn’t know how alluring she was, especially not in the dim light under the flickering wall sconces in the halls.
Note to self: Tell Nick and Pippa that brighter hallway lighting will be needed at Cloverdale House.
Before Andre could suggest something prudent, bright perhaps, such as enlisting Stan for a nightcap to help Thea sleep, she closed the distance and whispered in his ear. “Mary said the funniest thing, that my father is wrong.” Thea chuckled. “If it weren’t the words from a child or if I said such a thing, it would be bordering on treason.”
Andre got goosebumps from the butterfly touch of Thea’s breath close to his neck, and he tilted his head to face her.
Bad move.
Her eyes were aglow, and she licked her lips.
Andre was instantly hard.
“Let’s walk a little.” He gestured toward the staircase.Take her to your office. Sit at opposite sides of the desk, putting three feet between you and her.
“Could you show me the orangery?” Thea asked as she descended the stairs and was only two steps ahead.
“Surely, you’ve seen it, haven’t you?”
“But I’d like to know more about the plants. Perhaps I can teach Mary there tomorrow. I’d rather not venture to the park again.”
Andre’s chest tightened again when he recalled the danger in which he had found Thea only hours before.
“The orangery has a lock inside the door that leads out. Let’s make sure it’s closed.”
And so they walked downstairs and through the quiet halls of Cloverdale House. Her proximity sent an unrelenting awareness through him, his body taut with a tension he couldn’t name. Every fiber of him seemed drawn to her—her warmth, her subtle lavender scent, the unintentional softness of her presence that lingered like a touch.
When they arrived in the glass-encased building of the orangery, beads of water ran down the large windows. A servant rose from a stool next to the only door leading to the park.
“Dr. Fernando, how can I assist you?”
Don’t leave us alone.
His hands itched with the memory of holding her, of feeling the fragile strength beneath the silk of her gown, the way her lithe figure had molded so briefly against him. She wasn’t just alluring—though even in the simplest attire, she could command his full attention. No, she was something far more impossible to resist. There was a vulnerability in how her hand trembled just slightly when she brushed back a loose strand of hair from her cheek, leaving him inexplicably undone.
“I need to speak with Dr. Fernando alone, please,” Thea said.
The princess wishes it, and I will oblige.
With anything.
The servant bowed, and Andre took a step back.
Every time he touched her, a jolt shot through his veins that nearly magnetized him, forcing him to get closer to her even though he mustn’t.
When the servant had left, Thea walked through the rows of raised beds and brushed her fingers over the foliage of the many plants. “What are these potted ones? Their leaves look like citrus.”
“Oranges and lemons,” Andre remained a raised bed away at a safe distance. Thea nodded as if she knew the answer.
Is she testing me?
“And these?” she asked, pointing at a tall, prickly plant that looked like an octopus extending its tentacles into the air.
