Kitty searched again for Harrison’s tall form, but she could not find him anywhere.
He was gone.
Harrison sat in his study; the ledgers opened. It seemed the logical thing for him to do in order to forget the past four days. The most glorious four days of his life.
No matter how much he told himself that things had changed between them, the reality was vastly different. Kat had always been an independent woman, and that was one of the many things Harrison loved most about her.
Kat didn’t have to marry him for them to have a life together. Or so he kept telling himself, but Harrison couldn’t fight the feeling that he’d lost her all over again.
He’d fled Pleasure House to spare himself the heartbreak, but now Harrison felt like a coward. How could he run away from the woman he loved to spare his own feelings?
Standing, he decided to rush back to Pleasure House and stand by her side until she dismissed him.
“Is this how you treat a lady, sneaking away in the middle of the night?” Kat stood at the door of his study, her thick wool cloak covered in fresh snow.
“Kat, I was going to return to Pleasure House,” Harrison said, watching as she strolled into the room.
Kat removed her cloak to reveal that she was still dressed in his trousers and shirt.
Bloody Hell.
Harrison groaned at the way her hips swayed with her movements.
Why don’t women wear breeches all the time?
“You left,” she said, sliding into the small space between him and the desk.
She pushed him down. Harrison fell unceremoniously in the chair. Kat sat down on his lap, one arm draping around his neck.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to break my heart all over again, but then I realized that it didn’t matter anymore.” He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Her plump rump sat on his hardening member, making it impossible for him to speak.
Kat ran her fingers through his hair. “Why doesn’t it matter?” she whispered.
“It doesn’t matter, because I’ll gladly accept whatever you are willing to give me and will cherish every moment with you because I love you, Kat.” He slanted his lips over hers, tasting and savoring.
“Good, because I love you, too.” She kissed him again.
Harrison’s hands roamed her body, her curves calling to him like a siren. “Do you have to return to Pleasure House tonight?” he asked, kissing a path down her neck.
The thought of her leaving made him ill, but Harrison ignored it, happy to embrace their new closeness.
“No, I won’t be returning to Pleasure House tonight ...” She trailed off as she leaned on the desk, flipping through the pages of one ledger.
Harrison smiled, happy that he’d have one more night with her in his arms, his bed.
“I was trying to distract myself with the ledgers, but you know numbers have never been my strength.” He unbuttoned the flaps of her breeches, pulling the long shirt free.
“I can go through them tomorrow and make a list of where we can begin cutting costs and spending,” Kat said, turning more pages.
We?
Hope sprang anew, but Harrison did not want to be too optimistic. “Will you not return to Pleasure House tomorrow?”
She leaned back against his chest, peering over her shoulder at him. Her hazel eyes dazzled in the candlelit room.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it is customary for a wife to stay with her husband, is it not?” she asked, rotating her body fully on his.
