Page 89 of The Lord Meets His Lady

“I meanmybed. For sleep.”

He stood, her officious tone a splash of cold water. Naked save her threadbare stockings, Genevieve moved faster, balling up an underskirt. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she tried to cover herself. From him.

She stuffed another underskirt into her arms and searched the floor. “My other shoe…I can’t find it.”

He nabbed it from under the curtain. “You aren’t staying.”

“No.” She reached for the shoe, but he held it close. “Aren’t you going to give it to me?”

“Why not stay here? The bed is warm.” He grinned, waggling his eyebrows. “And I’m warmer.”

She didn’t look him in the eye, instead straightening the bundle in her arms. A distinct chill crept between them. Her mouth flattened, the same line he’d witnessed when they’d talked at Devil’s Causeway. Was she hiding more secrets?

His eyes narrowed. “What about Herr Wolf? Did you sleep with him?”

Genevieve cocked her head as though he were some strange creature. She stepped closer and pulled the shoe from his hand.

“Ineversleep with a man.” As they stood toe to toe, she pinned him with her dark eyes and was unashamed to say, “I did have sex with Reinhard…but sleeping? Much more personal.”

A searing stone hit his stomach. Sleeping with someone required trust. She didn’t have it. Not for him. What an ugly truth, but it was her life. Who was he to think he could wipe away the past in one night? This was her choice. His past had been less savory. He had no room to scold or judge. Such was the way of men and women.

But he didn’t have to like it.

“I am grateful for what you’ve done,” she said, clutching her clothes. “You saved me with this…this arrangement, but we both know it won’t last. My sleeping with you would only complicate matters.”

His hands balled tightly at his sides. Her words doled out doses of truth. Genevieve didn’t share an inkling of what he felt for her. Not when she wasgrateful.

“You’d grant the favor of your body but not be with me. Is that what you’re saying?”

Her small nose was inches from his chin. One arm flexed as though she would touch him but didn’t.

“Sex is one thing. Sleeping in the same bed with a man is another.” Her alto was as gentle as if he was the one in need. “It could produce…feelings.”

Balled-up skirts brushed against him, grazing intimate flesh. His breeches were loose, his fall wide open. He stood fully clothed like a sex-hungry fool with his man parts hanging free. The taste of her sex still covered his mouth.

“Your…tender care tonight… Thank you,” she said.

A knot inside him went cold. “I’m glad to be of service.”

A tiny furrow notched between her brows. He could press his case. Touch her just so. Seduce her into staying. Head high, he kept his hands at his sides.

“I’ll take my leave, milord. Tomorrow will be a busy day… The horses.”

He winced and buttoned up his placket. She’d addressed him asmilordagain.

Genevieve turned, keeping her clothes against her chest, a woman hiding her nudity. The red cloak framed her heart-shaped bottom, all the better to torment him as she walked away.

It was laughable. Covering the front of her body, yet her backside stayed bare.

Except he wasn’t laughing.