Page 35 of A Duke for the Taking
“I will be, Harriet.” He groaned. “Are you crying?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to, but the thought of your getting hurt truly terrifies me, and it is not because you think I have some vested interest in keeping you alive. Can I not worry because you are a good man and I am afraid you might get hurt?”
She looked as though she wanted to throw her arms around him, so he opened his arms to her in encouragement.
She flew into them.
He hugged her, loving the way she melted against him and into him. “Oh, Harry. I shall use all caution.”
He loved the way she sincerely cared for him.
This was her nature, was it not?
Softhearted to a fault.
George had always said this about his sister.
“It is likely nothing at all, Harry. Beatrice may just want to show you one of my horses. I keep several fine racers here.”
She leaned her head against his chest and nodded. “I hope this is all it is.”
He kissed her on the forehead, afraid to kiss her as he truly wished.
The hallway clock bonged to mark the five o’clock hour. Had he been with Harriet almost an hour? It felt like only minutes. “I had better go.”
He would take her in his arms again tonight.
Why not?
And kiss her tonight…really kiss her with scorching heat and passion.
Why not that, too?
And why not ask her to marry him?
Was she not the obviously right choice?
CHAPTER SEVEN
HARRIET’S HEART WASin her throat as the large clock in the hallway marked the six o’clock hour. “Oh, Alice. I do not like this one bit,” she said, pacing across the elegantly carpeted floor of her bedchamber.
The carpet was blue, of course.
So were the drapes.
Which is why the duke had named it the Blue Room.
He had sent Alice up to assist Harriet, or perhaps it was to keep watch over her and stop her from following him into the stable.
“His Grace knows what he is doing, Miss Harriet. You mustn’t fret.”
But how could she not?
She went to the window to peer out, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the stable. Her bedchamber overlooked the duke’s beautiful gardens, but also provided a sliver of a view of his stable if she leaned out the window and looked to her right.
“Oh, do be careful,” Alice said, her voice strained with worry as Harriet stuck her head out for a better glimpse.
Harriet inhaled lightly. “The duke is walking into the stable with his friends.”
