Page 108 of Second Duke's the Charm

She smiled against his lips. “Good evening, yourself.”

He straightened and gestured at the pile of correspondence in front of her. “Are you almost finished? Simms promised to have dinner ready for us at seven.”

Tess dipped her nib into the inkpot and signedCharles King, Esquirein elegant script at the bottom of an invoice requesting payment from a countess. In the months since their success on behalf of the princess, business had almost doubled.

“Now, I’m done.” She glanced outside, at the softly falling snowflakes fluttering past the window, then back at her husband, who had rounded her desk and was now leaning negligently against the doorframe.

He really was obnoxiously handsome. She could hardly believe he was hers.

“So much for your ‘three months, no feelings’ rule,” she teased softly. “You were supposed to be back in Bristol by now, if I remember rightly. And yet here we are, in snowy December, still happily married.”

Justin sent her a rueful grin. “What can I say? The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry, and all that. To misquote poor Robbie Burns.”

“I ruined your plans?”

“You did. But they were terrible plans.” He sent her a hot, suggestive look across the room. “I havemuchbetter ones to show you.”

Tess chucked. Her husband was a wonderfully wicked man.

In truth, she suspected she’d already guessed one surprise he had planned for her. The faint sound of barking had been coming from the stables that morning, and when she’d peered out the window, she’d glimpsed a familiar figure climbing furtively into a cart. Justin, she was sure, had bought her one of Mr. Collins’s latest litter of puppies, and she couldn’t wait to meet the adorable little creature—nor to show her husband just how much she appreciated such a sweet gift.

As she stood to leave, she picked up the hastily scrawled note that had been delivered by courier earlier. “It sounds as if Ellie may have found us another interesting case.”

“Concerning what?”

Tess tilted her head. “I’m not entirely sure.”

Ellie’s note had been unusually cryptic, even for her. She’d simply written,New job. Urgent. P.S. Just kissed Charles King.

Justin frowned, confused, when she read it aloud.

“I thoughtyouwere Charles King? The three of you. You, Ellie, and Daisy.”

“We are. So I don’t know what Ellie means. But I’m sure we’ll find out tomorrow. She and Daisy are coming for dinner, remember?”

“As if I could forget.” Justin wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and stole the opportunity to press a kiss against her neck. “All the more reason to enjoy our time together now,” he murmured. “In fact, maybe I can show you one of my better plans in the carriage.”

Tess gasped in mock outrage. “The carriage? How very scandalous, Your Grace.”

He grinned and tugged her hand. “Only if we’re caught. Come on.”