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Page 7 of Defying the Duke

The desk her father had used was a grim reminder of the man’s loss, looming large and empty in the space. Jack wondered if it bothered Miss Westfall to see it every time she looked up. Perhaps they could remove it from the room, or rearrange the furniture so it wasn’t her main focus. Turn her desk, maybe, to face the window?

He walked to the window and opened the curtain to see what sort of view she would have. The wall of the next building stood barely a foot away. He didn’t think she’d enjoy old, red bricks and pale mortar. He closed the curtain again.

Boredom advanced, swelling to fill the room. The only furnishings consisted of one tall, narrow bookshelf by one wall, two desks in the center, and the safe in a corner. His only hope of something to entertain himself lay on the bookshelf, so he went to it.

Miss Westfall’s voice followed him. “Do you intend to wait for me here?”

“And if I do? Is there a problem?” He met her gaze.

She sighed with the sweetest hint of wistfulness. “I suppose not.” She looked at her ledger.

“Excellent.” Jack turned back to the books, most of which were old ledgers, he discovered. He bent to view the lower shelves, where he found three printed texts, which appeared to be written in Greek. He pulled one out and opened it, discovering his father’s name written inside. “This would certainly require the rest of the afternoon, if not longer,” he muttered.

“Forgotten your Greek, have you?” asked Miss Westfall cheerfully.

“Perhaps you could read it to me,” he suggested with a raised eyebrow. She certainly was an impudent girl.

“I could, but that would delay my work here.” She pointed to the ledger beneath her pen.

“Yes, I suppose it would. Carry on.”

Miss Westfall grinned and returned to adding columns, or whatever task she was working on.

Jack sat at the other desk and opened The Odyssey. He hadn’t enjoyed literature in school and doubted he would now, but having the book in his hands gave him something to look at other than Miss Westfall. He couldn’t stop himself from stealing glimpses of her, though. Her red hair was a siren call, even when she’d pinned it mercilessly about her head. Her complexion was pale, as one would expect with that hair color. He wondered if her eyes were blue or green? He could picture them being deep green, like an emerald.

She glanced up.

He quickly looked down at the book but knew he was too late, so he met her gaze again. He gave her a practiced smile, letting his eyelids narrow seductively. “I was merely wondering what color your eyes are.”

Those striking eyes widened, and her skin took on a pinkish hue. “Blue.” She went back to work.

He’d been wrong.

Now, instead of Homer’s tale, he saw lovely blue eyes when he looked at the book he held. He snapped it shut.

Miss Westfall jumped and looked up.

“I’ve read this one,” Jack said simply. He went to the bookshelf and bent to replace it.

“I’m sure you’ve read the other two, also. The Iliad and The Aeneid. They’re the only books there aside from the ledgers.”

He picked up The Aeneid. “This one is Latin. How did you know I chose a Greek book?”

“The odds were sixty-six percent in my favor if I said Greek. A safe bet, I think.”

“A woman after my own heart.” He chuckled, then again, harder, when she blushed and went back to work. Or made the appearance of doing so.

She was delightful company and obviously didn’t find him thus. She blushed so easily. He wondered what else he could say to make her skin warm that way. Actually, he could think of many things, but all were completely inappropriate for an employer to say to an employee.

Completely inappropriate to express to a lady one was not married to, or at the least, engaged to.

There were many activities he would enjoy engaging in with Miss Westfall.

Certain parts of his anatomy agreed, and Jack turned his back on her, flipping the book open and reading a page at random. Pronouncing the Latin in his head was easy enough, and the words flowed easily since he wasn’t attempting to comprehend them. The distraction had the desired effect on his libido, thank goodness.

He heard drawers sliding behind him and looked to see what Dinah was up to. She placed a key in her reticule and stood. “The deposit is ready, so I feel safe escaping the office early, if we don’t tell my employers. They’re a demanding lot, those dukes.”

Jack grinned. “My lips are sealed.” That poor choice of words left him imagining sealing her lips with his. He cleared his throat and hurried to grab her pelisse from the coat rack.

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