Page 40 of An Inconvenient Duke

“I spotted you walking on the street. When I saw you duck inside the shop, I knew what you’d planned.”

She paused, the dress halfway over her head. “You knew?”

“You forget that I’ve already had a glimpse of your quick-change talent.”

Her lips twisted with vexation. “Your man would never have figured out where I went.”

“I know.” From the tone of his voice, he wasn’t at all pleased to admit that. “You’d have outsmarted him.”

Pride warmed her at that unintended compliment as she slipped on the dress and shimmied her hips as she pulled the skirt down into place. But there was far more to him being here than he let on.

“I have a feeling that your man has orders to do more than guard me,” she drawled, once more irritated at his lack of trust as she pulled on her stockings. “Following me everywhere I go like this, he’d surely report back the names of any ladies I might meet with so you could figure out which ones are involved with Nightingale.”

“No. I’d never ask him to do that. I’d never breach your trust like that. His only responsibility is to keep you safe.”

This time, it wasn’t pride that fluttered inside her but something stronger. Perhaps he did care, and enough that she could begin to trust in him.

“I won’t deny, though, that I’m pleased with how it worked out,” he commented. “Now that you know you’re being watched, you’ll be less likely to work for Nightingale.” His voice faded slightly. She pictured him moving around the workshop, curiously looking at the various women’s items, his interest snagged by a pretty silk shawl, or running his hand over a silk nightgown meant for a lady’s wedding night. “Which means you won’t be putting yourself into danger.”

“Ah, so there’s your ulterior motive,” she quipped, irritated that he was once more attempting to put an end to Nightingale. As she quickly pinned up her hair as best she could in the small mirror hanging from a nail, she couldn’t help but feel that she was suiting up in armor for a battle.

“If that’s what it takes to keep you safe, so be it.”

She bit back the retort that it wasn’t his job to keep her safe, because a part of her liked the idea of being protected by a strong man far more than a modern woman like herself should admit. “Yet you feel no hesitation to risk yourself.”

“That is what a man does.”

But in his solemn answer, she heard the truth.That is what a soldier does.

Slowly, she opened the curtain and stepped out of the fitting room, one hand carefully clutching her loose bodice to her bosom. He stared at her from across the small workshop with the same predacious stare as before.

“Undressed…dressed…” he mused in a low drawl. “Beautiful either way.”

She ignored the heat that flushed her cheeks. “And you shouldn’t waste your time attempting to flatter me into giving away my confidences.” She turned her back to him. “Button me, will you?”

“I am your humble servant, madam.”

She couldn’t hide a smile at that. This man was no one’s servant.

He came up behind her, and she felt the heat of his hands lingering on her back as he slowly fastened the half dozen little pearl buttons.

“I didn’t spout empty flattery, you know.” His fingers brushed against the bare skin just above her undergarments. “You truly are beautiful, Danielle.”

Her belly fluttered. She had no idea what to say to that. With his hands on her, his body so close that she could feel the heat of him lingering against her back, she needed to change the topic. Quickly. “How is Claudia?”

“Better. She’s still a bit shaken, but Trousdale’s been a strength to her.”

“And Penelope?”

“She’s decided to set traps around the house in case anyone attempts to break in again.” She heard the consternation in his voice, but also patience and love. “She’s organized the servants into rigging wires across the halls, noisemakers on the stairs, bells on the doors… So far, she hasn’t caught any intruders, but she’s trapped two footmen, one coal deliveryman, and the neighbor’s dog.”

Her chest sank with pity. “Poor Pippa.”

“PoorPippa?” He leaned over her shoulder to give her a dubious look before returning his attention to the last button. “That little poppet’s on her way to world domination.”

She smiled. “You’d best refrain from teaching her battle strategy then.”

She expected a low chuckle from him, the kind that would twine down her spine and create that same sensation of arousal low in her belly that he seemed to stir inside her every time they were together.