“Damn those Sanfords.”
She laughed. “I’m starting to find it all amusing. So I told them they must have misplaced the pails, and please make certain I had some at lunch. They’ll have to try harder than that.”
“You almost sound like you’re enjoying this little competition.”
“It’s a challenge I mean to win.”
“Hold still,” he suddenly said, from much closer.
She gave a little gasp as he cupped her face with one hand, and used the thumb of his other to wipe down her cheek.
“Coal dust,” he murmured.
He didn’t move away, and she stood there, her face so warm, cradled in the strength of his rough hand. Without even knowing what she meant to do, she slid her hands up his chest, then neck, until she felt his rough cheeks.
“Let me see you,” she whispered.
“Of course,” was his hoarse answer. “But how?”
“Like this.”
Beneath her exploring fingers, his cheekbones were high and proud, and the hollows below showed his lean face. His chin wassquare and blunt, and his lips, which had felt soft against hers, had a full lower lip, and a more narrow upper. His nose was as lean as the rest of his face, with a little bump near the bridge.
“You broke your nose?”
“Not all by myself.”
She smiled, even as she continued her exploration. She was gentle moving over his closed eyelids, felt the blunt, manly shape of his brow and the silkiness of his hair falling forward over it.
“You are very handsome,” she murmured, still letting her fingers trail through his hair above his ears, then sliding back over his scalp and to his neck again.
“Can you imagine what I look like, from a simple touch?” he asked.
“I think so. But I’ve always been able to imagine you. It’s your voice, so very evocative, so … different.”
Robert didn’t have to imagine at all. He could drink in the beauty of her, even as he held her face in his hands. Her full moist lips were meant for his kisses, and those eyes might not see him, but they decorated her face with golden light, the light of her gentle spirit within.
He kissed her then, each of them holding the other’s face, their bodies swaying against each other, each brush of her breasts against his chest sending a hot wave of desire straight to his groin.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”
He lifted his head to see Miss Collins standing in the doorway, her gaze taking them in before turning aside.
Audrey stepped away so quickly, he had to grab her to make sure she didn’t send her skirt sweeping across the coal grate.
“I’m not going to fall,” she said crossly, her face red with embarrassment.
“I—I should have knocked,” Miss Collins said, “but the door was open.”
Robert gave her a smile. “It was simply the kiss of an engaged couple who’d been separated too long.”
“I’m sorry three days was too long for you,” Audrey said with faint amusement.
He grinned down at her. “It was too long for you, too.”
Miss Collins frowned as she stepped farther into the room. “Audrey, what is that dirt across your skirt?”
Audrey winced. “It must be coal dust.”
