“What if Gilley went with us? He and I could wait across the street...”
Robert’s eyes squeezed shut and he put one hand over his face as if fighting off a headache. “You are the most bullheaded, opinionated, driven woman I have ever met in my life. You have yet to meet a bone you will not chew down to the marrow.”
“I know you mean that as an insult—”
“I do.”
“But it’s also one of the reasons you like me, is it not?”
“Could you not have stopped with ‘You are not alone’?”
“Is that the moment when you were most in love with me?”
“Without a doubt.”
Eloise smiled and slid her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his. Robert closed his arms around her, and with a sigh, nuzzled his face into her neck. “You are absolutely maddening,” he whispered.
“And you,” she murmured, her face leaning against his chest, “are not alone.”
Robert nipped her earlobe, then pulled it into his mouth, worrying it gently. Eloise sighed and gripped him tighter. “Take off these silly clothes.”
He released her, stepped back, and shed his shirt and trousers, revealing that he was quite ready to take her back to bed. With a wicked grin, Eloise reached down to stroke him. He gasped and snagged her wrist. “Not yet, greedy mouse.” He scooped her up, and she giggled as he lowered her to the bed, easing down over her. He braced himself on his elbows, gazing at her face. He ran his fingers through the reddish curls on her head, grimacing a bit.
She frowned. “You do not like my hair short?”
He shook his head. “Not particularly. But I more miss the brown. After all, it was that long errant—and brown—curl of yours that captured my attention Saturday night.”
“And I thought it was my intellect and sparkling charm.”
He chuckled. “That’s what retained my attention.”
An abrupt sadness settled over Eloise, and she cupped his face with both hands. “Since this may be our last time together—”
“Do not say—”
She kissed him. “Shh. Then let us just enjoy each other.”
He remained silent a moment, simply gazing at her face. “I had an idea—of how I could keep you in the City—”
“As your mistress?”
After a pause, he nodded.
“But—?”
“But as I said, I have no idea what the next few weeks may bring. What will happen with Bill’s estate. Hell, I may not even be in the City in a month or so. Makendon has made moving with Lydia to the Scottish border a requirement of the betrothal.”
His tone made a twinge of hope snag at Eloise. “Robbie?”
He turned his head and kissed the palm of one hand. “It was foolish for me to consider it, given our current circumstances. Besides, I cannot see you as anyone’s mistress, not even mine.” He kissed her forehead, then her lips. “Especially not mine.”
“And why not?”
He toyed with her short curls again, his smile soft. “Because despite what everyone may think, the life of a mistress is not unlike that of a wife. It just operates in different social circles. You would be bored and restless within a week. You need a life with its own unique opportunities, one far more in your control.”
“An unrealistic goal, as you well know.”
Robert nodded, but his silence made her hesitate, that odd twinge of hope rearing up again. “Robbie?”
