Calstone waved his comment aside. “You know how I am. Your rebuffs flow over me like a rain droplet on a leaf. I barely hear them anymore.”
Will cast his eyes to the ceiling. “Good for you.” He crossed one leg over the other. “You are suddenly full of ideas.”
“Good ones, heh.”
The corners of Will’s lips twitched. Ah, his friend meant well. Parading about the house nude might not be the best course of action, but Calstone had still given him an interesting idea. If he had to wait for his wife’s return, why not wait in her chamber?Bathing.She would never expect such brazen behavior from him, but neither could he be censured too strongly for simply trying to stay clean. He wasn’t sure if it would work, since it could not be considered a usual method of courting, but who was to say what was normal or not? They were already married. The playing field had changed. And if he happened to imprint the memory of his naked body on Harriet’s mind...
Will shot to his feet.
“Finally see the light?”
A grunt.
He would wait for his wife in her chamber. If he was going to bathe, he must consider how long it took to prepare hot water. He might not have much time.
His mind sparked with all the other ways he could tempt his wife in the future. Later, he could read a book in the nude on the bed? No. Shirtless would be better. Best to leave a bit for the imagination in such cases. He wanted to tempt her, not scare her with an intimacy she wasn’t ready for.
He slanted a look at Calstone. “You can see yourself out.”
Chapter Fourteen
Harriet strode downthe hall to her bedchamber still preoccupied with the conversation between her and Rohan. The man had done it on purpose, planting seeds of doubt sprinkled with a flavor of anticipation. She understood why he had done so. She knew Rohan well enough to know that her hasty wedding and runaway attempt beforehand had disturbed him, even though he didn’t say so. The less he said about the matter, the more Harriet understood how uneasy what happened to her had made him. He must be regretting not being here for her, which was why he had launched an investigation on his own and attempted to redirect her mind onto something else. Something more hopeful.
And it had worked.
Drat him for knowing her so well.
Harriet didn’t plan to speculate much on the theory that Leeds fancied her. It was just too bold to claim. However, the idea did serve as food for her romantic soul. And the taste was sweet.
She pushed open the door to her chamber and stepped inside. A subtle fragrance of lavender assaulted her as well as a waft of... steam?
Harriet furrowed her brow, her gaze meeting the most provocative sight she had ever come across in her entire life. Not that she’d come across many, but this...
Ought to be outlawed.
In the center of the chamber stood a bath. In that bath lazed a very striking, and presumably very naked, man with a broad chest on display. Damp tendrils of hair curled on his temple, making him appear more god than man.
Her package dropped to the floor.
Lord. Save. Me.
This was her husband.
And he resembled a hero straight from one of her novels. Which was startling enough, but what made it jaw-dropping was that this wasLeeds. Stone-faced, shockingly persistent, and breathlessly unyielding Leeds. Bathing. In her chamber. As though he had not a care in the world! As though this was the most normal thing to do.
“Ah, you are back, love.”
“What are you doing?” Harriet managed to croak out.
He arched a brow that seemed to indicate that it ought to be obvious what he was doing. “I’m taking a bath.”
“I can see that,” Harriet snapped. “Why are you doing so inmychamber?”
He shrugged, and simply said, “Our chamber.”
She pointed to the adjoining door. “Your chamber is over there.”
He scooped a handful of water to splash over his arm and shoulder. “The servants must have accidently brought the tub here. “What could I do?”
