Page 4 of Last Night with the Duke
“No?”
She didn’t back away from his nearness, but he watched the faint stain of an embarrassed flush ease up her slender neck and settle in her pale, soft-looking cheeks.
When he didn’t immediately respond, she gave him a long, hard look before her spine stiffened. She obviously thought he wasn’t interested.
“All right,” she said, quickly regaining her professional composure. “That’s not a problem. Perhaps you would like to tell me more about your sisters. I would be happy to make the decision for you and save you the trouble.”
“That won’t be necessary either, Miss Swift. I’ve already decided who I want.”
“Oh, I see.” She paused as if she were weighing what she should say next.
Clearly he’d confused her, and he sensed her retreat from him.
“Perhaps you are already familiar with someone who’s currently in our agency.”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful,” she said with the first genuine smile she’d given him, though she was careful not to inflect too much happiness in her tone and appear too eager to hear who had captured his notice.
Pleasing her with such a simple word as “yes” caused Griffin’s lower body to tighten again.
“That makes things easier for both of us,” she continued. “Unless of course, she’s already positioned with another family and not willing to agree to make a move in order to accommodate you. But that would be doubtful, I’m sure.”
“I believe she’s available.”
“In that case, tell me who you’re referring to and I’ll do my best to obtain her.”
Griffin reflected again on the events that brought him to this moment. According to the gossip, his sisters could be in real danger from someone wanting to ruin their chances at making a good match or simply playing them for a fool in hopes of breaking their hearts. Rumors or not, he couldn’t take that information lightly and do nothing to protect them. He needed a strong and fearless chaperone to watch over their every move when he wasn’t around. Sara and Vera were clever in an innocent way and would not be easy to keep up with.
Even though Miss Swift had shown she had backbone, talked with mettle, and maintained a self-reliance that impressed him, Griffin had also seen what he was sure was a rare moment of vulnerability in her too. He sensed a sweetness, a kindness, and an intangible warmth inside her that couldn’t be deliberate or pretend.
He liked those things about her most of all. Griffin let his gaze glide over her lovely features once again. Oh, yes, she would do nicely handling his sisters and keeping them in line.
He stepped still closer to her and, keeping his voice low, said, “You, Miss Swift. I want you.”
Chapter 2
Don’t turn down employment no matter how menial or challenging it might appear. Do make something good come out of it.
MISSMAMIEFORTESCUE’SDO’SANDDON’TSFORCHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS,ANDNURSES
A breathless surprise washed over Esmeralda Swift. The words “I want you” reverberated in the silence of the room, fluttering around her like delicate flakes of snow seeping into her heated skin, nourishing her. And for the briefest amount of time she took the comment at face value and gloried in the purest meaning—he wanted her!
Esmeralda stood transfixed in front of the most imposing man she had ever met and looked into the most intriguing blue eyes she’d ever seen. She’d been trying to calm her ragged breathing and quaking stomach since she had looked up to see him watching her with such deep intensity that it had startled her. It was a mystery to her why her knees weren’t knocking together from his sheer presence in the agency. Not only was he a duke, he was tall, powerfully built, and quite possibly the most handsome man on earth.
He stood straight, commanding, and intimidating in his buff-colored riding breeches and shiny black knee boots. The tiered dark cloak he wore over his wide shoulders was held together at his throat with a large, engraved pewter medallion, giving him a rakish appearance that made her heartbeat whirl like a spinning wheel in her chest.
Thick dark brown hair was cropped short over his ears but fell to the crest of the white collar that showed at his nape. There was an inflexible quality to his strong features—wide, attractive mouth, high-bridged nose, and determined set to his chin.
Yes, he had saidI want you,and for a moment it had thrilled her to her core. Esmeralda was seldom at a loss for words, but the duke had completely stunned her by his statement. She wasn’t a foolish miss. She knew what the duke meant.
Thankfully, so far at least, she’d managed to control the flustered feeling that had assailed her when she first looked up and saw him gazing so keenly at her through the open doorway. She still hadn’t been able to ascertain whether he’d overheard her reproachful conversation with Miss Pennywaite, but surely if he had, he wouldn’t now be asking that she chaperone his sisters.
Something she couldn’t possibly do.
She knew she must be staring at him as if his words weren’t making any sense, so taking in a short breath, she backed away from him and moved closer to the desk behind her.
“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” she finally said, her voice a mere whisper. “I don’t actually chaperone. I am the administrator of this agency. I coordinate and counsel the women who are under my direction. It’s also my duty to make sure we place the right person in your household.”
