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“Lurking,” she said around a mouthful of baked eggs.
“He was lurking?” Ashley asked.
“No. I was.”
She was lurking? Why did Ashley feel as though he was missing something? “And was there a reason for your lurking?”
She shrugged her little shoulders. “I wanted to see you,” she said with no apparent premeditation.
Ashley’s heart lurched.
“I’m sorry I interrupted your quiet breakfast,” she said, wincing a little, as though she expected him to chastise her.
“I’m not,” he said with no thought at all. The grin he got in response was worth the discomfort his pride suffered. Damn, but he was a novice at flirting. It had been much too long.
Her gloved hand landed on top of his, the warmth seeping into him like the rays of the sun in his garden. “Thank you for playing for me last night,” she said quietly.
Ashley glanced at his daughter. But she was staring out the window at a butterfly that had landed on the bush just outside. She paid them no attention at all. “You’re welcome.” He wanted to slap his own forehead. You’re welcome was about the most inane comment he could have come up with. He wanted to beg her to visit him again in the darkest hours of the night. To plead with her to show him her favor.
He turned his hand over so that his cupped hers. She didn’t draw back. She didn’t shrink from him. She didn’t recoil. She smiled and gave him a gentle squeeze. Damn, he loved that smile. He would do just about anything to provoke it. Yet he had to do nothing, which made it even sweeter.
Anne turned away from the window and looked at them both. Sophia very gently tugged her hand from his grasp and laid it on the table beside his. “Did it fly away?” she asked absently of Anne.
His heart? It certainly felt like it.
“No, it’s still there,” Anne said with a heavy sigh.
Sophia’s forehead scrunched up as she appraised his daughter. “Is something wrong, Lady Anne?”
“Not really,” Anne said with another sigh. “I’m supposed to attend Grandmother today while she embroiders.”
“Well, that sounds like it will be entertaining,” Ashley began. At least his mother was making an attempt to interact with his daughter.
“Sounds like drudgery to me,” Sophia interjected.
His daughter smiled. And it was a genuine smile, one that looked like it suppressed laughter. She covered her mouth. “You’re amusing, Miss Thorne,” Anne said as she wiggled her feet so quickly she bounced in her chair. His mother would be mortified. Ashley was delighted. His daughter was giddy, and that was a good thing. And all because the little slip of a lady called Miss Sophia Thorne made her laugh.
“You don’t like embroidery, Miss Thorne?” Ashley asked of her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it quickly. So, she did have some filters. “I’m certain your grandmother has a good reason for teaching you to embroider.” She cast Ashley a smile that made his heart do that little fluttery thing again. Damn her. “And I do like to look at beautiful embroidery. I’ve seen artistry in some pieces my grandmother’s friends have made.” She shrugged.
“I’ve just never had enough patience to sit and do it myself. Pushing and pulling a piece of string through a piece of cloth and forming designs? It’s not for me. But I have a great deal of respect for people who can do it. Perhaps you’ll be someone who excels at it, Lady Anne.” She laughed. “Or perhaps you’ll find it as tedious as I do. We shall see.” She raised her eyebrows playfully at Anne. Her gaze roamed over his daughter’s face. “That’s a lovely pink ribbon you have in your hair. Did the tooth faerie leave it?”
Anne preened under her appraisal. “Yes.”
“How did you know about the tooth faerie?” Ashley couldn’t help but ask. It wasn’t a legend in England, and very few people he knew had heard of such a myth.
Sophia pointed at his daughter’s mouth. “The missing tooth gave it away,” she said with a grin. His daughter sorted through her hair until she could run the silky ribbon through her fingertips. “You’re a fortunate girl,” Sophia went on to say.
There was nothing fortunate about his daughter’s life thus far. But Ashley would love to change that.
“I wish I had a ribbon like that,” Sophia said with a tiny sigh.
He’d buy her a boatload of ribbons if it would make her smile. “How unfortunate that you’ve lost all your baby teeth,” Ashley said to her. “Or perhaps the tooth faerie would leave one for you.”
“Oh, I sincerely doubt that. They hate my kind.” Then she bit her lip as though she’d just said something she’d intended to keep to herself.
“Your kind?” he asked.
