He lifted his head from the bed, and she hissed as blood came rushing back into her extremity. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, flexed and relaxed the muscles of her arm.
“There’s some tea left in the kettle,” he said. “It will be cold by now, but it’ll have to do.”
Kitty groaned but did not otherwise complain. Then her gaze landed on the fabric strewn upon her desk and she cursed. Mrs. Klein was expecting her dress this morning, and it wasn’t nearly done.
She pushed herself upright. She hadn’t before disappointed a client and she was not about to start today, sickness or no sickness. Her body no longer felt like it were being weighed down by bags of sand, and she didn’t feel the same haziness, like she was looking at the world through a sheen of water. The worst of the fever was over, and it was time to go back to work. But as Kitty shifted her legs off the bed, Cordon appeared in front of her, set the teacup aside, then put his hands on her shoulders.
“No.”
She gestured to the table. “I have responsibilities. Commitments. Alyssa will be arriving to open the shop soon.”
He dropped to his knees. “Just a few more hours of rest. Please? If any customers show up asking for work that you have not yet completed, I’ll convince them to give you more time.”
She sighed. At least seeing a lord in her shop would prevent customers from getting too angry. “I will rest.”
He rested his head on her knees. “Thank you.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. He was such a contradiction. Brash and flirtatious, but also sweet and caring. She could imagine living with him for the rest of her life.
She swallowed. Where had that thought come from?
She looked down at the top of his head. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. It was worse than she’d thought. She didn’t just care for him. Shelovedhim.
There was a knock at the door. “Miss Carter?”
Alyssa’s voice.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Kitty said.
Cordon squeezed her legs. “Don’t.”
“I can’t stay here all day without explaining, Cordon. I won’t be long.”
She had to get away from him, if only for a minute. Having him so close made it impossible to think clearly, and she had to figure out what to do. He was a viscount. She could never be anything more than his mistress. If he eventually married, what would she do?
That was assuming he didn’t tire of her by then.
She was so foolish.
“You have three minutes,” he said.
She left him in the room and limped down the stairs.
When they’d first met, she’d dismissed his flippant attitude. He’d seemed like another rich member of society gallivanting about without concern for his future. Everything would always work out for him because he had wealth and privilege.
Except it wouldn’t. He’d come across like a typical selfish member of the gentry, but that was only how he presented himself because he’d known he was going to die. Unlike her, he had no reason to cling to a grandiose vision of the future.
She sighed. Despite what she’d said earlier, she couldn’t let him go. She cared for him so much that she wanted to spend every minute possible at his side. Even if he didn’t feel the same way. Even if their relationship was doomed. Even if he would inevitably break her heart.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and squared her shoulders. She’d instruct Alyssa to mind the shop, then return to Cordon and tell him they could continue his list.
But when she walked into her shop, she found her mother peering through the door. Kitty reluctantly opened the door and allowed her inside.
“There you are!” Mrs. Carter gathered her skirts and rushed across the room. “So disheveled. You need a proper lady’s maid.”
Kitty resisted the urge to smooth the wrinkles from her blouse. Her mother would find something to complain about no matter how proper she looked.
Mrs. Carter’s lower lip trembled. “But oh, darling, you must come home at once. Everything has gone wrong. Your father…” She burst into sobs.
