Page 31 of The Billionaire's Temporary Governess (French Conquests 2)

Deep down, she knew he was right.

In the week since they’d returned from London, William’s suite had grown quiet. In the daytime, Naisha had taken to going for walks at dawn, wandering around the topiary garden until it was time for classes, when she would discreetly slip into the classroom and wait for Willa to arrive.

At night, the kitchen was silent. Naisha had stopped nipping out for her late-night cups of tea, so there was no chance of them accidentally bumping into each other again. He’d heard from Willa that she’d ordered a fancy electric kettle for her room, so she could make her tea there rather than venture out.

She was like a mouse stocking its little nest full of goodies, so it didn’t have to dart around the hallways at night, and risk coming face to face with the cat.

William hated it. He hated the idea that she would hide from him, and the fact that she was reluctant to be in his company, especially after the night they’d spent together.

The image of that night was burned into his brain, hell, the scratches on his back were barely healed. He could still taste her, the sweet warmth of her mouth and the musky saltiness between her legs. He could feel the thickness of her hair entwined around his fingers, the power of her ankles clasped around his back. It was like being haunted by a spirit determined to pour thoughts of sex into his head every chance it got.

Sometimes he woke up with an erection so painful that he would lie there cursing. His mind drifted to Nicolette, his sometime lover back in the Old Town. She’d been messaging him lately, making it clear that she was there for a drink and a chat, but she was no longer interested in pursuing their sexual relationship.

That was fine with him. To seek Nicolette out in that way would be both foolish and unfair. He wasn’t about to attempt to slake his sexual thirst on one woman when his thoughts were filled with another.

None of these musings were of any help, however, not when his body and mind both still bore the fingerprints Naisha had left behind during their last encounter.

“That does it,” he said to himself, full of a curious mixture of yearning and self-disgust. If she didn’t want to come near him,hewas going toher.It was quite late. Willa had turned in at least an hour and a half ago. He was sure the child wouldn’t hear his soft knock at Naisha’s door.

Naisha opened the door curiously and then startled when she realized who it was. “Is something wrong?” she demanded.

He stepped inside before she had the chance to stop him. “No. Not unless you count this crap you’re pulling.”

He’d caught her off guard, so she hadn’t had time to pull on that godawful terry robe she’d been wearing the last time she’d ventured out into the kitchen. Now, she was wearing nothing but a baseball T-shirt, under which she might or might not be wearing panties.

“I’m pulling crap?” she repeated, astonished. “What the hell kind of crap am I—”

“You’re avoiding me as if I’m some horror-movie monster. As if I would ravish you the moment I set eyes on you.”

She colored up prettily at that, making him soften his tone. “Are you sure that the idea of my ravishing you would be so bad?” He kept his tone light, trying not to scare her off.

Instead of answering, she folded her arms protectively around her chest and led him to the two armchairs in the small sitting nook, way on the other side of the corner where her four-poster bed stood.

“We talked about this, Lim—I mean, William. It can’t work.”

“Why not?”

For the first time, her eyes were fixed on his. Her next question was just as direct. “What are your plans?”

“Plans?” he echoed.

She pointed at him and then at herself. “For you and me. For us. Where do you see this going?”

He gave her a half smile. “You mean, other than to bed?”

She wasn’t amused. “William! I’m serious! You walk into my room with your jokes,” She huffed in frustration, and he immediately became sober again.

He took her hand. “Naisha, you know as well as I do that we have something here. There’s attraction, sexual compatibility. We like and respect each other. What would be wrong with us enjoying each other’s company? In and out of bed?”

“Is that all?”

Was she really asking for more? Expecting more? “Mon trésor, I’ve just come out of a marriage that was strenuous. It was a union that should not have been. I should have never married her, but by the grace of everything that is good, I have received the greatest blessing from it. Willa. Forgive me for not being ready to enter into anything more binding or emotionally consuming.”

She yanked her hand away. “I’m not your whore, William.”

“No!” It meant everything in the world to her that she understood that was not what he thought of her. “You are no such thing. You are smart, beautiful, perfect. The fact that I do not desire a relationship speaks to my character, not yours. And yet, I know that you and I, we can make something wonderful.”

She shook her head, and the puffy cloud of her hair moved with it. “I’m sorry. I don’t do casual. Besides, I’m tangled in something with a man that—”

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