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Hetty frowned at him as she slowly became aware of the intimate atmosphere that had slowly crept over them. She shifted uncomfortably, but not through fear. This man made her feel things; want things, that someone like her had no business thinking, wanting, feeling.
She took a small step backward in an attempt to put a little distance between them.
“Thank you,” she croaked somewhat awkwardly. “Although, if you tell me that when you are not in your cups, I might just be thrilled.”
He grinned at her. “It’s poss, possbl, possibab -”
Hetty rolled her eyes and forced herself to move away. She just couldn’t bring herself to leave the room yet though, and took a moment to add several more logs to the fire. Once there, she willed her shaking knees to hold her upright long enough so that she could get out of the room without making a complete fool of herself.
When she eventually turned around to leave, she forced her thoughts toward how she was going to drag Simon’s carcass through the door, but a shocked gasp escaped her at the sight that met her gaze.
While she had been stoking the fire, Charlie had decided to make himself at home, and had dragged his shirt over his head while he prepared for bed. In spite of her best efforts to keep her face impassive, her mouth fell open as she stared at the broad expanse of hair covered chest that rippled and glistened in the candlelight whenever he moved.
Get a hold of yourself, Hetty, she warned herself. You have brothers who work around you shirtless all the time, and it has never bothered you before.
She tried; she really did, but simply couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sight of his bare flesh. To her utter embarrassment, Charlie realised he was having an effect on her.
He grinned and swaggered over to her.
Hetty eyed the intent look on his face warily. Determined not to allow him to see just how rattled she was, she threw him a somewhat defiant look.
“I will say goodnight,” she declared firmly. Her eyes flashed a warning at him, but he merely stared back knowingly at her.
“Goodnight beautiful,” Charlie drawled.
His rather smug smile suddenly vanished when he tried to stand back to let her past only for his heel to get caught in the rug beneath his feet. He fell into a heap on the floor for the second time that evening with an undignified grunt.
“Oh, Lord,” Hetty muttered at the sight of the tanned expanse of flesh that rippled as he moved. Determined not to touch him in his unclothed state, she carefully stepped over him and hurried to the door.
“Are you going to leave me here, beautiful?” Charlie called after her.
He watched her go, and wished that she would stay for a little while longer. He really wanted to get to know her a little more. Who was she? Where had she come from? For a moment, he had caught sight of the delectable curves beneath that shroud of a nightgown she wore, and knew that he had most definitely been blessed. Would she come back if he asked really nicely?
He looked down at his useless legs, briefly contemplated trying to get up and take his breeches off, but dismissed that task as impossible given how much the room continued to sway. Besides, he had already embarrassed himself in front of beautiful enough for one evening. She would run screaming if she saw just how really interested he was in her.
He watched the door start to close behind her.
“Beautiful?”
Hetty turned and looked at him. She nearly groaned at the handsome sight he made lying on the floor, propped up on one heavily muscled arm. The firelight burnished his skin in a golden glow that only emphasised his masculinity, and bathed him in rather intriguing shadows that made her want to explore each dip and hollow.
Aware that her now dry mouth was not going to work for her anytime soon, she lifted a brow and remained in the doorway.
“What is it?” She prompted when he made no attempt to say anything more.
“When we are married, I will insist that your shroud has to go,” he declared with firm nod.
Hetty’s mouth opened and closed at his audacity, but words failed her. She immediately ignored the rather risqué thoughts that filtered through her mind, and quickly turned away before he saw the tell-tale blush in her cheeks.
Damn him, she mused as she closed the door on the sound of his chuckle.
She wasn’t sure whether to be angry or not. The sound of that husky rumble remained with her while she tugged Simon’s legs into the house and closed the door on the cold with a quiet click. She eyed her brother’s bulk for a moment, and tried to decide if she should bother to try to wake him up. If she did, she could hardly help him into the sitting room like she usually did. That particular space was occupied by the rather handsome rogue her brother had brought home with him.
With no alternative available, she covered him over with one of Wally’s cloaks, and left him where he was. She glanced at the sitting room door as she left the hallway and shook her head wryly, even though a soft smile curved her lips.
When she eventually returned to the lingering warmth beneath the blankets, she stared at the ceiling in consternation, and tried to make sense of what had just happened.
For the first time in her life, she felt as though something had dramatically changed in her life, only she couldn’t quite make her mind up what it was.
