It was just lucky that he could control himself. He had let himself slip at the ball in the Warwick home, but he would never allow that to happen again. However beautiful this ladywas.
“Oh right.” Iris was not sure if she could disagree with such a reasonable request. Especially from her boss. She wanted to, but she could not think of a reason on the spot. This was an unexpected turn of events. “Erm, yes, that will be fine.” Maybe she should just agree now, then she could think of an excuse later. “But it is imperative that I leave verysoon.”
“It is for me too. My business is very time sensitive.” Ewan wasn’t unkind as he stated this, but his tone was incredibly firm. “I will contact you again as soon as the arrangements aredone.”
For a few moments, they simply sat there staring at one another as if they were both waiting for the other person to back down. Iris kept parting her lips as her voice box was desperate to speak. She wanted to know exactly how things would be between them considering what had happened before, but since they were clearly not discussing it she could notask.
Iris hated how handsome Ewan was, because it made it so much harder for her to keep herself together. His deep eyes reminded her of all the hope she felt on that night. The fact that she knew how wonderful it felt to have those arms wrapped around her reminded her of how deeply she felt. Even the way that he whispered‘I love you’in her dream made her recognize that actually it was love that she felt for this mantoo.
She did not think that love would happen for her now, she assumed that it was far too late, but now it had in the cruellest way possible. Maybe as a punishment for tricking Duke Pembroke, fate had caused Iris to love a man that could never feel the same way abouther.
"Is there anything else?" Ewan asked while folding his arms across his chest. He needed to create a barrier between himself and Daisy before he acted out of character again. “Or is that our business concluded fornow?”
“Yes, I suppose it is.” Iris scraped back her chair to leave. “Thank you very much for seeing me, Lord Ewan, and thank you for your kindness too. I appreciate everything that you have done for metoday.”
Then she bobbed into a curtsy once more. It still felt strange to act so formally around a man that she had shared a close, intimate moment with, but he had let her see that he only wanted to behave as strangers, so the formality wasessential.
“Yes...right.”
Iris turned to walk from the room with a mix of emotions churning her up inside. On the one hand she was grateful that she could get to see Elizabeth, even if it would be a little challenging, but on the other Ewan was acting very strange around her. And now she would have to be escorted by him on herjourney.
“Daisy,wait.”
Iris twisted her body around, she could not stop hope from filling her chest. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted Ewan to say to her, but it went something along the lines of‘I love you desperately, please be mine’.Even if that was a crazy fantasy... nothing more than another daydream that could never cometrue.
“Yes, myLord?”
Iris forced her lips to curve in an upwards direction, but she kept her mouth closed to control the sound of her racing heart. She even had to clap her hands behind her back to stop herself from reaching out tohim.
“I...” Ewan opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed to think better of it at the last moment and he clamped his lips shutagain.
“Yes, my Lord?” Iris wanted to encourage him to speak, she needed to hear what he had to say. “Is there anything else that you need fromme?”
Ewan’s mind raced as he tried to fill in the blank of what he could no longer say. In all honesty, he was not sure what he planned to say when Daisy turned back to face him, all he knew was that he wasn’t quite ready for her toleave.
“I just wanted to thank you for doing such a good job with my sister,” he finally said lamely. “She seems to be doing very well now, with you working for her. It is nice to see Amyblossoming.”
“Oh.” Iris knew this was not what Ewan originally intended to say, but it felt good to have her hard work recognized. “Thank you very much. Your sister is a lovely young lady, and I feel honoured to be working with her. She is sweet, with a lot tooffer.”
“Yes.” Ewan felt pleased to have someone else recognize what his sister was worth. He loved Amy very much, he knew how wonderful she was since he had helped raise her, but somehow hearing another person say it made it all the more powerful. “I think sotoo.”
Iris and Ewan shared a smile, but then it was really time for her to leave. Neither of them could think of an excuse for her to remain, so Iris turned and she walked from the room with aclip, clip, clipas her shoes connected loudly with theground.
As she left Ewan alone, he dropped the papers in his hand onto his desk with a deep sigh. Ever since he had first laid eyes on Daisy at the Warwick household, she had set something alight within him. It was almost as if he had been coasting through life for years like he’d been on autopilot without even realising it. Daisy woke him up, she sparked sensations within him that he did not even know he could feel, she awoke desires within him that he did not know hehad.
When he held Daisy in his arms and he danced freely with her in that hallway, Ewan experienced what it would be like to find love in his life... and it was something that he surprisinglyliked.
The moment that his father passed away, Ewan took on the family responsibilities. He took over the running of the household and the business, as well as looking after his sister. Ewan did not mind the hard work, in fact, it suited him well, but it put his social life on thebackburner.
He did not care one iota about that until he laid eyes on Daisy. How typical for him to feel that way for a woman that was not really suitable, given his socialstanding.
Ewan stood and he wandered over to the window in his office, where he stared out over his land for a few moments. During the short periods that he spent at home, he never got a chance to just take stock for a moment, but something about that conversation with Daisy forced him to doit.
Now he had offered to take his sister’s handmaiden on a journey to the city. It was under terrible circumstances, but still, they would be alone for an extended period of time. Again, not really. Daisy would be in her carriage and he would be inhis.
Still, it felt far toointimate.
What am I thinking?He banged his fists lightly against the window as he realized what a pickle he had gotten himself into. He could not go back on his word now, he had to escort Daisy to the city. He just hoped that they could both come out of it with their reputationsintact.
Iris did not think as she walked away. In fact, she was in such a hurry to leave that she almost ran. She needed to push everything that had happened in Ewan’s office to one side for now. She would think about it all when she got into bed tonight, she could analyze it to death then, but for now, she had to keep her head screwedon.
She wanted a job to come back to. She needed to make sure that she did everything right before she went so that she wasirreplaceable.
