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I grab one of the towels lined down the wall and go back to the room. Then I sit on the bed next to her and wipe the cotton across her skin, cleaning up the mess I made.
Paisley stays very still, watching me with questioning eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I move a little slower, dragging the towel over her breasts.
“You’re just acting different.” She purses her lips. “Again.”
“I act how I want to act, Paisley.” I stand up and toss the soiled towel into the hamper before going back to the bed and dragging down the covers. I slide in and pull her body close to mine before letting the sheet and blanket fall over us. “It doesn’t have to make sense to you.”
Unfortunately, it should make sense to me.
And right now it doesn’t.
* * *
“WHY ARE YOU awake?”Paisley stands in the doorway to my office, her long body draped in the t-shirt I gave her two nights ago.
“I could ask you the same question.” I turn away from the window I’ve been staring out, trying to narrow in on the point where this plan I started went off the rails so I can fix it.
“I don’t sleep well.” She comes into the room, her bare feet silent as she moves across the floor toward the chess board I keep as a reminder of the most important lesson I’ve learned. “I worry about my mom so I wake up at every little noise.” She settles into the chair behind the white queen.
“How is your mother?” I know the first thing she did when she woke up was go check on her. It’s clear that Paisley’s mother is what matters most to her in this world.
And maybe that’s where all this went wrong.
“She’s still asleep.” Paisley chews her lower lip as she reaches out to move one of the pawns on her front line one square forward. Her eyes lift to mine. “Your move.”
I stay where I am. “How do you know I don’t get to go first?”
“The internet says white goes first.” She shoots me a little smile. “So it must be true.”
I move closer, looking between the board that hasn’t been used in almost twenty years and the woman who has no idea the history it holds. “Why were you looking up how to play chess?”
She lifts one shoulder. “I mean,” she motions to the game, “you have this in your office so I figured you liked to play. It would make sense that we’d play together if I was your—” She frowns at me. “What am I supposed to be?”
“Mine.” I lower into the chair across from her, old emotions fighting for attention.
Acknowledgment.
I slide one of my pawns forward two spaces, forcing myself to stay in the moment instead of slipping into the past.
Paisley seems to ponder her next move, but finally settles on sliding another pawn forward, moving two spaces this time.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” I point to my queen, indicating the clear path for her to slide diagonally across the board. “I can checkmate your king.”
Paisley gives me a slow smile. “But you didn’t.”
I stare at her.
All this time what I saw was her innocence. Her honesty. Her inability to be something she’s not.
It distracted me from the most dangerous bit of her.
Because my Duchess is also smart.
Smart enough to trick me into showing her things no one was ever intended to see.
