Page 33 of The Moonstone Governess
“I like that you care nothing for my status and always expect better of me. You do not pander to my whims or say what you think I want to hear.”
“Dear heaven, that is true. I shall never do that.”
“From the moment we met, you poked and prodded to find the man I am inside.” He pounded lightly on his heart. “You may yet decide you do not like me, but that decision will be made upon knowing who I really am.”
“I am honored.” She cast him a wry smile. “Well,Daire, now that we are on our way to becoming good friends, do you wish to stop in at Mr. Bedwell’s mercantile and look over the supplies needed for Matthew? It should not take us long. I think we will have to order most of what we need from Exeter or Plymouth. Some items might have to be ordered from as far away as London.”
“Sure, I have time.” Since they were now walking into town and surrounded by passersby, her uncle had hurried his wagon along and was no longer in sight. Daire was in no hurry to part from Brenna and was glad she had suggested browsing in the mercantile. “You haven’t asked me, Brenna.”
She looked up at him. “Asked you what?”
“We have yet to discuss your governess wages.”
“Oh, that.” She told him what she earned while at the girls’ school.
He emitted a groan and then laughed. “You are a terrible negotiator, little dove. Why would you volunteer this information to me? I might have offered you more.”
“I only want what’s fair. Will you match it?”
He sighed. “I’ll double it. Settled.”
Her jaw dropped open. “Daire, you are mad.”
No, he was euphoric.
She was now calling him Daire and not averse to considering him a friend. She had no idea how much this pleased him, and it had nothing to do with how pretty she was or how much he desired her in his bed, which he did with a molten and unbearable ache.
But he would lose her if he acted upon his urges now. She needed to trust him.
Yes, this had everything to do with gaining her trust, just as she was gaining his.
This was something completely new to him, trusting a woman. But Brenna was a gem. A Moonstone gem.
Honest, earnest, compassionate. Truly someone special.
He ought to triple her wages.
She would berate him and smack him across the back of his head if he considered anything so insane.
But who could put a price on a woman like this?
Chapter Seven
Daire escorted Brennainto the mercantile.
It took them no more than thirty minutes to select reading material and toys for his nephew, because Brenna had a very good idea of what a young boy needed and approached the task with skilled efficiency. Daire purchased the books, games, and toys that were readily available and asked for them to be delivered to his suite at the inn.
“Right away, Your Grace,” Mr. Bedwell said, obviously pleased. The man’s smile broadened when Brenna then handed him an additional list of supplies the entire length of a page and instructed him to purchase the items from wherever he could find them. “I’ll do my best, Brenna.”
“Thank you, Mr. Bedwell. And do negotiate the best price possible for us.”
“Of course.”
As for their current purchases, Daire was certain the mercantile prices were hiked for him because he was a wealthy peer, but they were not so very much out of line. He placed a hand lightly over Brenna’s to quiet her when she started to haggle with the shopkeeper. “We are done, Miss Angel. No need to come to my defense.”
She rolled her eyes the moment they were out on the street and beyond the shopkeeper’s hearing. “Honestly, everyone will fleece you if you do not stop treating your coin purse as though it is bottomless and there is an endless supply.”
He grinned at her. “But thereisan endless supply.”
