Page 57 of Snowbound Regency Christmas
‘How charming it is to see you with a child in your arms,wife.’
He saidwifelikeknife—sharp and cutting.
Julia continued to bounce the little girl who had laid her head against Julia’s shoulder. The child would be asleep soon. No doubt she’d cried herself into exhaustion. Another experience that Julia could relate to.
‘If only you would give me a child to love,husband.’
Devin’s face flushed red and a tense silence followed. Then one of the bridle culls laughed. The sound grated on her ears.
‘Your wife is a corker, Ballantine.’
Devin pulled out a chair for Julia. ‘That she is.’ And as she sat down, he whispered in her ear so only Julia could hear. ‘I would be more than happy to fill you with a child, wife.’
Julia felt her own colour rising at his innuendo, her chest tightened, and an odd feeling of butterflies entered her stomach. At least Lizzy had finally fallen asleep. Devin took the seat next to her and his knee brushed hers. He did not move his leg as it rested against Julia’s limb and caused her internal temperature to heighten once more. Dreadful Devin cast her a mocking look as if daring her to scoot away from him.
She would burn to a crisp before she moved one inch for that man.
Never before had Devin been attracted to a woman holding a child. He’d never believed that motherhood could be sensual, but there was something extremely attractive about a beautiful woman cradling a sleeping child. Julia hummed low and rocked back and forth in her chair. Devin couldn’t decide if it was the sounds she was making or the studied kindness of calming another woman’s child. He’d believed Julia to be wholly selfish and clearly he was wrong about that. He also tried not to think of the fact that she wasn’t wearing any stays. That her lovely figure was entirely her own. Although the plain dress of a governess did little to ornament her body, Julia was so lovely that it did not matter.
The need to touch her was overwhelming and Devin couldn’t resist brushing his knee against her leg. He expected her to flinch or move, but she didn’t. It annoyed him that his touch did not bother her in the slightest. But then he saw that her neck was a lovely pink. She was not indifferent to his touch. For a moment or two, Devin allowed himself to fantasise about burying his head into that pink neck and kissing her until she made some humming sounds for him.
Devin grabbed his wine glass and gulped rather than sipped. What had he been doing? Fantasising about the very woman who had ruined his brother’s life and mired his family in scandal. Devin had even lost clients over it.
No. He would not give into this siren. Nor to his base desires. Besides, he had no wish to kiss a woman that his brother had. It felt incestuous. At least that was what he tried to convince himself. However, it made a rather unconvincing argument even for a barrister.
Mr Peebles took the lid off the pot of what Devin assumed was supposed to be the soup, though it smelled like burnt peat moss. Even the two thieves wrinkled their noses at it.
Mrs Mack attempted a civil smile. ‘Did you make it yourself, Mr Peebles?’
‘My wife—’ Peebles began to lie but then caught Devin’s glare ‘—has been called away, but I followed her instructions to the letter.’
‘I wonder which letter of the alphabet that was,’ Julia said in an undertone that only Devin could hear.
He nearly chuckled but kept his mouth firmly closed. He would not laugh at her wit or be charmed by her mouth. Although her mouth was a very pretty shade of pink and her lips were full. Devin wondered how they would taste.
Better than his dinner—that was for certain.
Blissfully unaware, Peebles dished out his stew into everyone’s bowls and then filled their glasses with the fine red wine. It was an excellent vintage, but it did not hide the fact that the dinner was inedible and Devin was famished. He’d had a large meal for breakfast but not had a bite to eat since.
‘Where is Joe, Mr Denard?’ Mrs Mack asked.
The coach driver glanced up from his soup bowl. ‘A bit of a head cold so he stayed in our room.’
‘I shall bring up a bowl to him,’ Mr Peebles said.
Devin didn’t think that even a man with a head cold would be able to eat this slop. He watched as Julia toyed with her spoon in her free hand, but somehow she managed to never bring the thick green gloop that Peebles considered stew to her mouth. She did sip her wine and gave little contented sighs that were driving an already hungry man mad with both annoyance and lust.
Unable to control his temper or his desires any longer, Devin turned and whispered in her ear, ‘Stop making those noises at the dinner table. It is most unseemly.’
Her eyes widened as if in surprise and then they narrowed at him in what he hoped was fury with a dash of disgust. Devin needed her to hate him—because Julia tempted him too much.
She hissed back at him, ‘The only unseemly sound at this supper, husband, is the slurping of your soup. Did your mother forget to teach you manners?’
‘Gammon.’
‘Hell-born babe,’ she whispered back, her tone venomous.
‘Is everything all right?’ Mrs Mack asked from across the table.
