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Nick stared at her.
“Has he remained alone all his life?” she pressed. “Or did he marry once? Perhaps he has close friends in Graton? Though I have seen little evidence of any connections in my fortnight here.”
Nick did not open his mouth, instead watching her through curious eyes. Was the man too loyal to the earl to speak about these things?
Doing her best to swallow her disappointment, Giulia gestured to Nick’s wound, rising so she might reach the dressing. Nick pulled his open shirt aside so she could have access to his shoulder. Leaning over him, she began unwrapping his bandage. She pried up the linen covering his wound and inspected the area, gratified to find the redness reduced. She closed the linen with a satisfied nod. He was healing up nicely.
“You know,” he spoke quietly. Unnervingly. “I have a proposition for you.”
Giulia stilled. His breath tickled her ear as he spoke and sent a ripple down her spine. If she was the type of girl to blush, she would have done so in that moment. Instead, she tried to look unaffected, think of Ames, and quickly finish wrapping Nick’s shoulder.
Once she finished tying off the wrap, she stepped back and moved behind the wingback chair that sat beside his bed. Folding her arms over the top of it, she rested her chin on her arms. It was the perfect height, so she did not have to bend down at all.
“What proposition is this?”
Nick chuckled. “It would be a lot easier to speak to you if I was not forced to crane my neck. Won’t you do me the honor of sitting beside me?”
She watched him for a moment like a prey leery of an attack. She was definitely wary of this man. He had a reputation, according to Tilly. Apparently he hadn’t done anything too reckless since coming to the castle three years prior, not enough to earn him the reputation of a rake. But he supposedly left a streak of heartbreaks behind him when Robert plucked him from home and brought him to Halstead, and he only added to that list upon arriving in Devon. And with a face like that, and muscles so large and well formed…Giulia was not surprised.
Still, she was not going to be another one of those heartbreaks. Nor was she going to be his entertainment while he lounged and recovered.
“I will sit, but only if we set some guidelines first,” she said.
“I’m listening.”
“First, you must cease this inappropriate behavior. I understand from the stories I shared while you were ill that you may have deemed me a lady of low reputation, but that could not be further from the truth.”
Nick had the decency to blush, pink glowing at the tips of his ears. She was testing how much he remembered and was not gratified by the response. So he had been coherent enough to hear her. And apparently, he’d paid attention.
“I’ll have you know—”
He cut her off. “I would not do you the injustice of assuming anything of that nature. Your father was the son of an earl. You yourself are the granddaughter and niece of an earl. Do not mistake my reckless flirtations as a jab at your respectability. For that, at least, I am quite sorry. Please, accept my apology on the misunderstanding.”
Giulia watched him for a moment longer before circling the plush chair and slowly lowering herself into the seat. “Very well. I’m listening.”
