“Well, now, that is a good question. I’d rather not pit my parents against each other.” She tapped her fingers on the drawings. “If I were pressed to give you an answer, which you seem to be doing, I’d like to trust you wouldn’t let it slip. But I’m not sure I can trust you.” She peeked at him over her shoulder, behind those gorgeous gold spectacles. “Can I?”
He was stunned by the blue that held his gaze.
A few moments must have passed because she repeated the question he thought he had answered.
“Can I trust you?”
Yes. Yes, you can trust me. Even though I hardly recognize myself anymore. You can trust me fully with your body, heart, and mind.That was his answer. In his mind. Aloud, he offered something simpler, “Yes.”
“Even still, I can’t decide between the two. Unfortunately I’ll have to disappoint you in this regard.”
But he wasn’t disappointed. Shocked. Baffled. Addlepated. A few more similar feelings, but mostly curious.
“You mean to say the Glider is your invention?”
“Yes.”
Well, now he understood the importance of the papers. She was an inventor. An engineer. The bluest bluestocking he had ever met. She came up with ideas in her mind, drew them, and brought them into being. So he uttered a word he seldom did.
“Wow.”
“Am I to understand that you’re impressed?”
“Yes.” His hand gripped her hip tighter, wanting to be closer to her and know her more. “Tell me, Blue, what else has your brilliant mind invented?”
She chuckled. A soft flutter bounced on the air around them.
“I can’t share all my secrets.”
“Just one more.”
She was shuffling through the papers when he saw a drawing or a strange-looking necklace next to a naked body. It wasn’t sexual in any way. It looked…medical. Of course, his attention was grabbed.
“Wait. What’s that one?” He placed his hand over the paper before she could shuffle it behind another one.
“It’s preliminary.”
“What is it?”
“It’s for…well, it’s for listening to heartbeats and breathing.”
“Why would you use it?”
“Physicians will use it to treat their patients. Listen for irregular heart patterns or breathing. I would use it with my future children. I’d want to learn what to watch for. I’m not a physician of course, but with some attentiveness, I could better care for my children.”
Arthur’s heart was pumping so wildly that he was sure Bridget did not need a device of any kind to hear its irregular beating. She was free. But it didn’t mean she was careless. Why had he ever equated the two in his mind before? She cared. She cared too much. She cared to risk her reputation for her future and her future children.
He dropped his forehead against her shoulder.
“Blue, Blue, Blue. Through and through.”
“I hate to bring this to your attention, as my intention is not to expose all of your deficiencies, but I’m afraid either your compliments or insults are in need of improvement.”
“Mmm…I’m sure you are correct.” With that irrelevant segue, he asked, “May I call on you tomorrow?”
Chapter 6
BRIDGETSHOULDHAVESURMISEDthe intention behind Arthur’s question. He was going to ask her to marry him. She also should have been thrilled. She had had to put zero direct effort into finding a husband, and in so doing, she had still landed a duke. What were the odds?
