He didn’t need to give an inch.
Not yet.
He’d waited this long to claim to book, he could wait a few more days. His shoulders relaxed into the pillow. He closed his eyes. How many seconds left?
He should rise soon.
Just one more moment.
Chapter Fourteen
Louisa woke upwith a hefty weight pressing down on her legs. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, unsure of what to make of this weight. She scrunched her brows, adjusting to the light filtering into the room. Seagulls chirped in the distance, along with the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. There was also a brisk breeze that made her want to snuggle deeper into the weight, since it was comfortingly warm.
Wait. No, Louisa.
This weight and this warmth were not normal.
She blinked a few times, her eyelids still heavy, wanting to speed up the dissipation of the grogginess of sleep. She was in a chamber. That she could tell. She could also instantly tell from the mattress that it wasn’t the same chamber as the first one she’d slept in at Mr. Helgate’s house. This one was a bit harder. They must have reached their destination then.
But how did she get from the carriage to here?
Priorities, Louisa!
Why was there a... weight... Her fingers brushed against something, no,someone, just as her gaze collided with a throat. A throat that trailed off into a chest.
You ninny!
Of course, a throat was attached to a chest! But this... this... just apartof this chest was showing, and yet her heart jolted, then began galloping inside her own chest.
Her gaze trailed up the chest, then the throat, to a familiar jawline, up to an exceedingly familiar arched set of lips, until it settled onto the complete face of a slumbering man with his eyes peacefully shut, as though sleeping in the same bed as her—no, having one leg thrown across her—wasn’t the strangest thing on earth!
But that was not all.
She was on her side, and below her head was an arm, and thrown across her body was another arm.
Dear Lord in Heaven!
She was completely enveloped by the duke!
But that still wasn’t all!
Her arm—lawks,herarm—circled aroundhiswaist. And one of her feet neatly tucked over his. She was embracing him back! They were enveloping each other!
Calm down, Louisa.
At this rate, her heart would climb out of her throat and explode all over the scene.
A throat cleared.
Her eyes dropped down and back up again. It wasn’t his throat. And it most certainly wasn’t hers. Her brows furrowed. She lifted her head to glance over Oliver’s shoulder, only to meet the gaze of her brother. The boy’s gaze bored into hers with interest, as though he had stumbled across a very intriguing thing.
He had.
So had she, for that matter, since she couldn’t recall a thing.
“I see you are awake,” Leo said, cocking his head. “So you can answer my question now.”
“And what question would that be?” Louisa asked rather dumbly, her throat still raw from sleep. She cursed her addled brain.
