Page 76 of A Touch of Charm
And the thought of denying it made his heart sink.
“Yes!” Thea called back, straightening her back. An expression of certainty washed over her face.
She was all of the princess he knew her to be and the only one there who matched Stan’s rank.
She stood tall, ironed out the folds of her dress, pushed a pin in her hair back up, and suddenly she had the authority to match Stan’s.
“Come out!” His voice thundered.
She put her hand on the key and gave Andre a glance over her shoulder.
He tucked his shirt back into his breeches, walked to his desk, and sat down, hoping the flush of the moment wasn’t visible and that the authority he’d have behind his desk would hide the evidence of his arousal.
They nodded to each other. Thea turned the key.
And Stan stormed in. “What’s going on here?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thea didn’t likeStan’s authoritative stance when he stood in the doorway.
Andre was firmly seated behind his desk, scribbling something in a ledger.
The room was in perfect order.
Of course, he could put one and one together—better, Thea and Andre, but that didn’t mean he could pretend to be her father. And if there was one thing Thea had learned for as long as she could remember, it was how to handle an older brother.
Andre looked ruffled. He sat at his desk, papers neatly stacked, his posture as straight as if carved from marble. Too straight. And Thea felt the thrill of it all because she’d done that to the handsome doctor, her Andre. When he spoke, his voice was calm—polite, even. “Hello Stan,” he said, his tone measured, “what’s the problem?”
Thea’s heart jumped at the sharpness of Stan’s reply. “You know exactly what the problem is,” he snapped, his words cracking through the air. “You were alone with my sister!”
Heat crawled up Thea’s neck, her cheeks burning as if all the sins of the moment were branded there for judgment. She wanted to speak—to defend Andre, to explain that nothing untoward had occurred—but the words stuck in her throat, a lump of fear and shame she couldn’t dislodge. And she didn’t want to lie about something so wonderful.
Andre, however, remained stiff. He gestured faintly to the desk in front of him, his fingers barely moving as he replied, “As you can see, I am seated at my desk, a respectable distance from your sister. Hardly the scandalous scenario you imply.”
Thea’s pulse thrummed like a drum as her gaze flicked between the two men. Andre’s expression didn’t shift, his dark eyes steady on Stan’s face, cool and undeniably correct. Stan, by contrast, seemed to falter. His frown deepened, his jaw clenched, a vein in his temple pulsing with frustration. He glanced her way, his brow furrowing further as though searching for evidence to back his accusation.
But there was nothing. Thea stood exactly where she had been moments before, her back near the window, feet planted firmly in place. Five solid paces separated her from Andre’s desk—a gulf that no amount of Stan’s bluster could overcome. She saw his anger waver in his eyes, his certainty unraveling like a loose thread.
The silence that followed was excruciating, pressing on Thea’s chest like a weight. She felt light-headed as if she were caught in the eye of a storm, waiting for it to spin her out. Stan’s mouth opened, but no words came, his shoulders sagging imperceptibly before he finally looked away.
“I needed to speak with him about something.” Thea gave Stan a piercing look, but he seemed calm, taking in the condition of the room.
“What?” Stan’s tone was grumpy, and Thea bristled at that.
“A patient.”
“You don’t treat any patients,” Stan said matter-of-factly.
“I still see them; one in particular caught my eye.”
Andre looked up for an instant, and Thea saw his mien falling when his eyes met Stan’s. Andre instantly looked down, dipped his quill in the ink pot, and scribbled more.
What was he writing, a novel?
When Stan pursed his lips in the same manner that Father did when Thea didn’t want to obey, she bristled, and indignation surged within her. She’d run away to find autonomy and surely didn’t come this far to exchange one authority figure for another. She’d decide who she’d fall for… oh, and she’d fallen, that was certain.
For Andre.
