Page 22 of Wagers of a Duke's Daughter (The Duchess's Investigative Society 3)

Which was quite likely at this point. The heavy layers of her jacket and waistcoat combined with the thick beaver hatandBlake’s close proximity had her feeling as though she needed smelling salts. She hastily tugged off the hat, allowing some of her hair to spill about her shoulders.

Blake’s brow lifted when he eyed her. “Howdoyou get all that hair under there?”

“With a lot of effort and clever use of a pin or two.” She tugged two pins from her hair and shoved them into her waistcoat.

His gaze followed the movement and he appeared transfixed.

She scowled. “Blake?”

“Yes?” He blinked and smiled rapidly. “Yes.”

“If we are not doing anything, why precisely are we having this surreptitious assignation?”

“How did you escape looking like that anyway?” he asked.

“I’m not a prisoner.”

“No but you are an unwed woman.”

Well, she could not deny that. “Anton and Eliza are dining out tonight and Papa is likely in bed reading. He gets tired quickly these days.”

“I heard his health is not what it was. I’m sorry.”

“He is well enough but he prefers solitude these days. Lots of people confuse him so we indulge his need for escape. Thankfully, Anton is quite capable of managing the estate and Eliza runs the house in his stead.”

“What of your sister? Or your aunt?”

“Eleanor is almost as preoccupied as my father and Aunt Sarah…” She smiled. “Well, Aunt Sarah helped me choose my clothing.”

“Good Lord.”

“She is an unusual woman and I have a suspicion she has done something similar in her past. She knew rather too much about men’s garments.”

“There are other ways of knowing about men’s garments you know…”

She sucked in a breath. How foolish she must sound.

“Forgive me, that was inappropriate.”

“I did not think you minded being inappropriate.”

“This is different,” he muttered.

“Because I am unwed and inexperienced,” she stated numbly. And boring and dull and too quiet. She knew it all already.

He leaned against the seat, eyeing her for a few uncomfortable moments. “I do not know what you are, Demeter. But you are something. Most definitely something.”

***

How he’d ever mistaken her for a boy, Blake did not know. Yes, with her glorious hair spilling over her shoulders it was obvious she was a woman but those lips...and those eyes… and those eyebrows…

Dear God, was he now appreciating eyebrows in a woman?

The point was, he could not look at her without seeing a woman now—an exceedingly pretty woman with dark hair that made his fingers twitch. The long lengths skimmed her breasts and were thick and full with a slight wave. He’d always considered himself a breast man but in the confines of the carriage, he would deem hair to be his weakness now.

Blake cleared his throat and forced himself to relax further, spreading his arms along the back of the seat. He’d been obsessing too much over her since he’d seen her with Foster and he needed to get a grip.

It was most likely due to how naïve she was or how she stuttered when around his cousin. She might not know it but she had an instinct about him too. She rarely seemed to stutter around him.

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