Page 112 of A Duchess for his Family

Benedict’s jaw tightened.

Nathaniel’s eyes widened. “Good God. You did not count.”

“I did not count.”

“Thank heaven. There may yet be hope for you.”

“There is nothing requiring hope.”

“You kissed a woman without first determining the appropriate procedure. I consider it a remarkable advance.”

Benedict pushed the letter aside.

Nathaniel’s grin widened. “Who began it?”

Benedict’s eyes narrowed. “That is none of your concern.”

“You, then.”

“I did not say that.”

“You did not need to.”

Benedict turned toward the window. That was a mistake. The glass reflected little of the room, but his mind supplied another image with merciless clarity: moonlight upon Sophia’s face and the faint warmth of her cheek beneath his palm. His body remembered what his mind had spent the entire morning trying to contain.

Nathaniel’s voice came from behind him. “You are thinking about it.”

“No.”

“You have been staring at a rain barrel for nearly half a minute.”

Benedict looked down. There was, indeed, a rain barrel beneath the window.

“I am thinking.”

“Yes,” Nathaniel teased. “About kissing your wife.”

Benedict turned sharply. “Must every thought I possess become entertainment for you?”

Nathaniel’s smile remained, but something in it altered.

“No,” he replied. “Only the interesting ones.”

Benedict glanced toward the chair near the window and remembered Sophia occupying it several mornings earlier while searching through a book on wildflowers. She complained that his study possessed too many dark colors and not enough comfortable cushions.

Benedict informed her that studies were not intended to be comfortable. She looked around the room and replied that this explained a great deal about him.

He thought of the remark twice since. Three times. Possibly more.

Benedict moved around the desk and poured himself water rather than brandy. Nathaniel watched him.

“It should not have happened,” Benedict said.

The amusement disappeared from Nathaniel’s face. “Ah.”

Benedict drank. The water was cool and entirely useless.

Nathaniel lowered his foot to the carpet. “You regret it?”