Page 70 of The Moonstone Pirate
He opened the door, lifted her into his arms, and set her down in the hall. “I will not be a happy husband if your antics get you compromised and I am forced to marry you.”
“Then why did you kiss me earlier in the garden?”
He returned to his bedchamber and added the insult of locking his door after shutting it in her face.
Imogen gasped when she heard the lock click into place. “What gall! And don’t you want to know whatthequestion is?”
“No, Butterfly. Go away.”
“Insufferable man,” she muttered, frowning at his door.
She returned downstairs to his study in a snit, but quickly shook out of it when Deandra looked up. “Where did you go?”
“I thought I dropped something upstairs, but I had it all along. Oh, and I think I ought to check in the garden one last time for any art supplies that might have been overlooked. Help me put these in order so I can tell if any are missing.”
“All right,” Deandra said sweetly, assisting Imogen in placing her pencils in proper order and checking all her supplies once again to make certain the pencils were aligned by color, the brushes were aligned by size, and the paints were properly sealed and accounted for.
They had just finished their task when Draco marched in, properly garbed and achingly handsome. “Deandra, I took the liberty of having your maid pack clothes for you. You are to stay at Westgate Hall with Imogen for the rest of the week.”
“I am?” Deandra, who remained unaware of the close call with the Irishman, was gleeful. “Papa, too?”
Draco nodded. “Yes.”
Imogen gave her a hug. “We shall such have fun together.”
“I promise to do better with my art lessons,” Deandra assured her.
Imogen laughed. “Don’t worry about those. I did not offer them to torture you. If you find the lessons boring, we shall do something else. Anyway, I’m sure we will be permitted to resume the volunteer work soon. Those soldiers are in desperate need of cheering.”
“I look forward to it.” Deandra’s eyes brightened.
Within the half-hour, they had all climbed into the Woodley carriage for the ride to Westgate Hall. Deandra’s father grumbled all the way, for he had been quite happy to lose himself in the well-stocked library at Woodley Lodge and did not see a reason why he should leave. Draco listened patiently to his complaints, but would not budge. “Uncle, it is only a few days, and then you’ll be back.”
“But Burness’s chairs are too comfortable. I shall fall asleep in them as soon as I sit down to read. It will not do, Woodley. It will not do at all.”
Draco arched an eyebrow. “Just a few days, Uncle. You will survive it.”
“First a party, then a murder, and now kicked out of my library. When will it all end?” Albert frowned, awaiting an answer that Draco did not bother to give.
“And then to have that lost ship sail into our cove not an hour ago,” Deandra added.
“What ship?” her father asked.
“Papa, the one that had our entire staff scrambling and on alert because we thought it might have been pirates. But it was merely a fishing vessel chasing a fish. The captain turned out to be an acquaintance of Draco’s.”
Her father harrumphed. “Then what was all the fuss about?”
Imogen understood how Deandra’s mother might have felt frustrated by Albert. The man had his nose buried in books all the time. In fact, he was so oblivious to what was going on around him, he was not even aware of the Irishman’s visit.
She had never met anyone more absent-minded.
Still, Albert Woodley was a gentle man with a unique love of all things impractical. He was a creature of habit who felt most comfortable in his routine and did not like to be pushed out of it, even if it was to steer clear of pirates. In this, he was quite different from Draco, who seemed to thrive on daring adventures and facing the unknown.
Draco did not take his eyes off her the entire ride to Westgate Hall.
Nor did he take his eyes off her during their meal, or the drinks Uncle Cormac offered on the terrace afterward. She knew it was not because he was besotted with her. He was worried she was going to say something to her uncle and aunt about the pirate visit.
Perhaps he was also worried she was going to say something about their steamy kiss.
