Page 10

He raked his stare over her. “Perhaps.”

But he didn’t think so.

6

Theo

She let out a huff as she shuffled the paperwork on her desk. She wasn’t even accomplishing anything. She’d moved her papers from one side of her desk to the other five times now. It didn’t magically make answers appear. It didn’t magically create focus either. And she was exceedingly vexed about what was making her unfocused.

Good heavens, he was so bloody hard. Egads. That thought had come out all wrong. His body was hard. Muscles, thighs, chest. Not…something else that decidedly would be hard if she were to take him up on his offer.

“You might as well tell me what’s going on. You know you will anyway.”

Theo looked up, her gaze settling on another hard, angled jaw. This one’s owner had green eyes and blond hair. Sebastian Sinclair, the Duke’s half-brother and the current heir to the Ironcrest dukedom. He was sprawled in one of the armchairs in front of her desk.

“Absolutely not.”

Sebastian and Theo had fallen into an unconventional relationship. She’d taken over the steward position from her late father at two-and-twenty, when Bash had been twelve. Even before that, she’d sometimes assisted her father once the duke had passed and it was safe to do so. And Bash had never been one to keep his nose out of others’ business.

He’d essentially grown up without a father. And once the castle was free from the evil the late duke perpetuated…everything had changed. Most of the social niceties—like not socializing with the help—were never enforced for Bash. He’d spent quite a bit of time curious about the estate and how it ran, which meant he’d spent quite a bit of time with Theo and her father. She looked at him as a little brother of sorts. Which was why she was definitely not going to discuss this particular topic with him.

His eyes brightened, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Is it something scandalous?”

“You are just as bad as Perry.”

He grinned, and one of his signature dimples flashed. Another difference between him and the Duke. Bash was all smiles, all the time. Other than that, though, the family resemblance was clear, though Bash still embodied the lankiness of a young man of eighteen. His Grace… There was nothing lanky about His Grace.

Theo let out a slow, shaky breath. A man should not affect her this much. She hated men. Men were abhorrent. Life handed them every advantage, and they abused it, then demanded more. Every little thing Theo did was scrutinized because she was a woman. She had the same brain in her head as any man had. She was just as capable. She wasn’t unaware of how lucky she was that the Duke wasn’t batting an eye at her being a woman.

And don’t get her started on if she wanted to bed a man. She had to go about it like she was a stealth agent working for the crown. If one were to find out she had been intimate with a man outside of marriage—gasp! It would be the end of her reputation. Yet…she’d overheard enough conversations to know men bragged incessantly about their conquests. And she also knew said conquests did not always include the consent of the woman. But that was the world they lived in.

Bash’s smile faded. “Now you’re angry. What societal injustice is it now? I know that face.”

She glared at him. “I do not have a face.”

“You most definitely have a face. It would be quite terrifying if you did not.” He blinked innocently.

“You are insufferable.”

“You like it, though.”

She heaved out an exaggerated sigh. “I do. You’re a pain in my arse. But for some reason I like it.”

He grinned, his mouth opening⁠—

“Don’t!” she said sharply. “I know the exact jest you were about to make.”

“A pain in the arse isn’t always a bad thing,” he said anyway, his grin practically splitting his face in two.

“If you were in reaching distance, I’d smack you across the head. I don’t need to hear these things. You are still twelve to me.”

He waved that away. “Talk to Bash, Dawson. He will get whatever you’re up in arms about all sorted.”

She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Well, I was just thinking about how much I dislike men and how pompous and self-righteous they are. And would you look at that? There’s one sitting across from me proving my thoughts correct.”

Light danced in his green eyes. “Ah, yes. Can’t argue with you there. We are quite awful. And yet I can’t seem to resist… We share that flaw, you and I.”

His eyes narrowed, and Theo did not like the gleam taking up residence there.