Page 6 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
White light shone through the window and across her face, still chilled because it was winter, but enough to see her blink awake and smile because it told her that today promised to be a most beautiful winter’s day. She lay there for a moment, confused as to why she started awake so suddenly, and that was when she heard then noise again.
It sounded like something was being… beaten? Hacked apart? A slow and melodic thunk, thunk, thunk, that sounded somehow familiar but also alien to her ears.
Alison lay there a moment longer, still listening, doing her best to figure out what the noise was and from where it emanated. And then it struck her.
Is now really the time?
She was up and out of bed, scurrying across her room to her window where she threw back the thin curtains to confirm what she now knew. Someone was outside her home, and they were chopping wood!
Sure enough, she peered across the estate, following the disturbance until she found the source of that which had awoken her. It came from the very edge of the estate. There stood a solitary figure in the snow, chopping away at a pile of timber as if he was the only person in the whole world. Never mind the time.
Alison blinked the world into focus… only for her eyes to widen and her cheeks to flush bright pink because now that she could see clEarly who it was that chopped through timber with axe in hand, she could not believe the coincidence.
It is as if he is doing it on purpose. As if he somehow knows where my window is and wants me to see him. But that can’t be the case. Surely, it must be in my head. Although…
It was none other than the man from the market the previous day. He was too far away to make out clEarly, but she knew it was him like she knew her own reflection in the mirror. She recognized his tall and broad physique. His messy brown hair. And… and… and… and the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Alison’s eyes widened further as she watched him.
Despite the cold of the morning and the snow that covered the ground, he appeared happy to let his exposed chest out into the wild so that just anyone could see him. Alison thought to look away but found herself unable. She thought to scoff at the sight, but that felt forced. She thought about telling herself the sight was unpleasant, but she knew that to be a lie.
His body looked as if it was carved from ice. Muscles rippled in the morning light. Veins popped and threatened to burst with each swing of that axe. His bulging arms were so thick she wondered if he might mistake them for tree trunks that needed to be chopped. He was, in every sense of the word, perfect and unlike anything Alison had ever witnessed.
She stayed by the window for longer than she was proud to admit.
Her body trembled, but not from the cold. Her mouth ran dry, no need to say why that was. And she felt a warmth spread through her body as she gaped and gawked and wondered if Christmas had arrived Early.
She found herself wondering about her neighbor. He’d undertaken the task of doing his own Christmas shopping yesterday, and now was partaking in manual labor. This all suggested him to be a servant of the Earl who lived next door. But that thought only annoyed her further, because if he was a servant then he should not have treated her the way he did yesterday.
Alison might have stayed there for longer, as she had become rather distracted. Only then, she heard voices coming from downstairs, those of her family arriving to break their fast.
A final glance at the shirtless servant… perhaps for a moment longer than was appropriate… and she pulled herself away. It was time to eat.
As was highly predictable, chaos greeted Alison when she walked into the breakfast room.
In this house, could anything else be expected?
“Winnie! What did I tell you about finishing your breakfast before petting that dog!”
“But look at him!” Winnie pouted from the floor where she was already well into the throes of petting Pickle, Alison’s dog. “How can you say no to that face?”
“Quite easily.”
“Might I recommend having her share a bed with the mutt?” Felix drawled as he took a bite of toast. “Seeing as she is so obsessed with playing at being a beast.”
“Where would she find room with you curled up beside it,” Nerissa added as she indicated to a butler to pour her a glass of juice. “Don’t pretend I didn’t find the two of you cuddled together when I came down this morning.”
“Oh, that is rich,” Felix scoffed. “Coming from someone who can’t stop talking about James Carroway as if he is God’s gift. I have seen horse’s rearends that aren’t so ugly.”
“And you can talk! Sally Monroe looks like a dropped cake!”
“Will the two of you stop,” Alison’s mother cried. “And Winnie! Please, sit down. Pickle can wait.”
“Why is that thing allowed inside?” Felix added with a sneer. Pickle, sensing he was being spoken about, yapped and hurried to Felix’s leg where he started to rub his body. “Argh!”
“He likes you,” Nerissa laughed. “About time someone showed you affection.”
“Get it off me!”
