Page 258 of Historical Hotties
“Nicola?”
“She’s very sweet.”
“She’s a pest and should be swatted away,” he said sternly, but he saw her grin. “But… she is kind when she wants to be.”
Caledonia put the garments on the nearest table and began picking up the shoes on the floor. “Thank you for sending her to me.”
“You are welcome.”
“Does she live in London all the time?”
“Mostly.”
“A pity,” Caledonia said. “I feel as if we could be friends. A pity she cannot go with us to Edingale.”
He was standing over by the bed, loosening his belt. “Would you like that?”
She looked up from the table of clothing. “That would be impossible,” she said. “Your sister serves at court.”
He shrugged. “I can speak with my father,” he said. “It might help you to have Nicola around while we are settling in. She could be of great assistance.”
Caledonia didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Do you think she would be willing to leave court?”
“She has been here for a few years,” he said, removing his belt and slinging it across the nearest chair. “It’s possible she would be pleased with a change of duties and a change of scenery. Besides… Darius is going with me. If she knows he’s going, she’ll want to come.”
“Darius?”
“The man she is in love with.”
Caledonia nodded in understanding. “She mentioned there was someone special,” she said. “From the House of de Winter?”
“A very powerful family that mostly resides in Norfolk,” he said, moving to remove his heavy tunic. “Do you know of them?”
“I confess that I do not.”
Thor loosened the laces on the blue tunic. “A big family with several branches,” he said. “Most families are like that. Mine certainly is. But de Winter has two main branches—Davyss de Winter, son of Grayson, who was Henry’s champion years ago, and then Hew de Winter and his sons, Darius and Dirk and Rafe. Hew and Grayson were brothers. There are more de Winters scattered about, but those are the main branches of the family.”
As he was talking, he’d pulled the tunic over his head, exposing his naked torso. Caledonia found herself staring at him, hearing his voice but not hearing his words. Everything seemed to get fuzzy and her face suddenly grew quite hot. He had a magnificent chest, broad and powerful, and his arms were heavily muscled. Even his shoulders and neck had muscles. The man was, quite honestly, one of the most perfect specimens she’d ever seen—and given her regular visits to Gomorrah, she’d seen plenty.
“Caledonia?Callie?”
It occurred to her that he was calling her name. Speaking to her. She’d been so consumed with staring at the man’s naked flesh that she hadn’t heard him at first. Sheepishly, she tore her eyes away from his chest and looked him in the eye.
He grinned.
“Did I bore you too much with the de Winter lineage?” he asked.
She shook her head. Then she nodded. Flustered, she turned back to the garments on the table. “I am sorry,” she said. “I suppose I’m simply weary. It has been a long day and, I swear to you, I think I’m still a little drunk from last night.”
He laughed softly. “As I said, I think we both are,” he said. “But the way you were looking at me… you’re not going to ask me to dance, are you?”
Her cheeks flamed at the question but she couldn’t help but giggle. “It had not occurred to me,” she said. “But I will say that the last time a man in your state of undress danced for me, he removed everything and tried to seduce me. I assume that is what you are going to do, too?”
“Was he one of the forty-nine men you’ve taken to your bed?”
She burst out laughing, turning to look at him. “I really have not taken forty-nine men to my bed,” she said. “I only said that because you said you’d taken nineteen to your bed. I wanted to shock you.”
He was grinning. “I have a confession.”
