“The syrup is boiled to increase the flavor. It’s wonderfully complex.”
Like you,Tess thought. Complex. Strong, almost overpowering. But sweetly addictive, too.
It felt so naughty, to betastinghim, in broad daylight. Any of the staff could come in at any moment.
Seized by a wicked impulse, she sucked his fingertip into her mouth, swirling her tongue to remove the last remnants of syrup.
His playfulness vanished: tension arced between them like summer lightning. His eyes darkened, and he let out a groan that warmed her from the inside out.
“Do you like it?” he growled.
Tess released his finger and gazed up at him. “Very much.”
His gaze was fixed on her lips, so she licked them, just to be perverse, and relished the way his own mouth parted in a little pant. She flicked a teasing glance down at his falls, and was gratified to see the bulge he couldn’t hide. She glanced back up at him with a smile.
“I think you like it, too.”
“Very much.”
He dipped his finger back into the syrup, but when she moved to taste it again, he shook his head and stroked it over her lower lip instead, anointing it with the liquid like a balm.
And then he bent down and kissed her. His tongue licked away the stickiness, then slid inside, and the smoky taste of the syrup mingled with the heady taste of him and made her head swirl.
Tess kissed him back, despite the awkward angle of her seated position, and it was only the discordant crash of her silverware hitting the floor that broke them apart.
Thornton stepped back and she cursed her clumsy elbow as he retook his seat as if nothing had happened. He clearly had more willpower than she did.
He cleared his throat. “I’m glad it meets with your approval.”
Tess managed to nod, even though her lips were still tingling. “It does, thank you.”
She racked her brain for a new topic of conversation. As much as she’d have liked to go straight back to bed, she and Thornton couldn’t make loveallday. She was determined to prove that there could be more than passion between them, but to do that they needed to spend time together. To become friends—if that were even possible with a man like him, who guarded his emotions so fiercely he probably thought an elevated heartbeat was a cause for concern, instead of satisfaction.
“Do you have anything planned for today?”
He glanced up from his plate. “I’d like to spend an hour or so looking over the books, to get an understanding of the place.”
Tess nodded. Business before pleasure. “You’ll find it’sall in order. I’ve been working with Mr. Arden, the land agent, to ensure the smooth running of the estate. Will you be free this afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I’ll arrange for a surprise foryou.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Justin’s morning ensconced in the estate office with Arden, the land agent, proved most enlightening. The steward had been full of praise for Tess, and while it was clear the older man was not immune to her beauty, it was her sound business sense that had earned Tess his undying devotion.
“I don’t mind sayin’, I thought she were an empty-headed bit o’ fluff when she first arrived,” the older man chuckled in recollection. “But she soon put me to rights. The old duke was barely cold in ’is grave when she came down here and asked to see the books, just as you have, my lord. She read them cover to cover. And then she demanded to know what else she should read to be a better landlord.”
Justin raised his brows.
Arden pointed to the rows of leather-bound tomes behind them on the shelves. “She read ’em all. And then she ordered a whole crate more from London, and read those, too. Andthenshe came to me with a list of things we could do to improve the estate.”
“Did you implement them?”
Arden nodded. “I did. Truth be told, Yer Grace, it was a relief to have someone interested in the place for a change. The old duke barely paid us any mind, as long as the tenants paid their rent and the harvests came in, but he never permitted me to make any changes at all, or agreed to any kind of investment.”
“What kind of changes did the duchess make?”
