Page 36 of Lord of Fortune
“Of course it is. We’re on a journey to find the truth. You want that, don’t you?”
“I do.” Even if it meant that her grandfather had found a fake heart. He’d been passionate about the story of Ranulf and Hilaria, perhaps inspired by a visit to Wynnstay and a viewing of the White Book of Hergest. To find that missing tome, to see and touch the pages that had sent him on a life-long adventure, was an opportunity she couldn’t resist. “I do,” she said more firmly. “But, we must…” she searched for the right words, “behave appropriately.”
His dark blue eyes sparked as he drawled, “Haven’t we?”
Longing pulled in her belly. No one had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her now. It made her feel beautiful, desirable, and completely singular. As if she were the only woman in the world—his world.
She struggled to answer. “Yes. For the most part.” Did she have to draw attention to what had happened, or almost happened, upstairs? “Let’s avoid small spaces.” There, that should make it clear.
He edged even closer to her, until there was scarcely six inches between them. “Does it bother you to be too close to me?”
“No.” She answered far too quickly—and honestly. “What bothers me isn’t at issue.”
“Why? If it doesn’t bother you, why stop doing it? Dare I hope you may even like it?”
Oh, this was too familiar. And yet…he had a point. She wasn’t some green, unmarried miss who needed to preserve her reputation. Still, kissing would change their relationship and affect their objective.
She straightened her spine and held herself stiff. “I should like to maintain a professional working relationship. We are on a quest to find the White Book of Hergest, and I would ask that we focus on that. I bid you good evening.” She turned on her heel and hurried from the drawing room before she lost herself even further in the smoldering heat of his gaze.
Later, as she tossed amid the lonely bedclothes, she wondered if she was embarking on a colossal mistake or a life-changing adventure.
