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“Was there areasonyou wished to see me?” he tried.
Her gaze dropped from his face to his chest, where his robe hung a bit open. The heat and yearning he felt under her gaze were as unwanted as they were undeniable. Hang the puddles. Moving carefully, so as not to make a bigger fool of himself by slipping, Henry stepped out of the tub and walked over to Dinah.
“What did you wish to say?” he asked now standing less than an arm’s length from her.
He expected her to wither under his glower, to wilt and retreat as he towered over her.
Instead, she simply said, “You cut your hair.” She brushed a few fingers over his temple, softly teasing the shortened hair there.
Her touch left a trail of warmth, one that spread through the whole of him faster than a fire across dry grass. It made him aware of how close they stood, how soft her lips looked.
Suppose he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her soundly? Might that not prove the best way to bring her to her senses?
Only, Henry suddenly felt sure that if ever he kissed Dinah, he might not be able to stop.
Instead, he remained motionless and simply said, “What in the blazes made you think you could simply waltz in here, uninvited?”
Far from looking chastised, Dinah only pursed her tempting lips and looked up at him, all infuriating self-assurance. “Wearemarried, are we not?”
“In name only.”
Her eyes rounded, and she grew quite still. Her jaw tightened, even as the corners of her mouth turned down.
It seemed his words had finally hit their mark.
Dinah’s fire and confidence slipped off her, as though it had only been a shawl she’d been wearing. One that now lay at her feet, motionless.
Dinah drew in a deep breath, and when she next looked at him there was none of the same flirtatious heat but only a firm resolution. “I had an idea, and I thought it best to tell you immediately. However, I am sure it can wait long enough for you to become presentable. I will be waiting for you in the sitting room.” With shoulders back and head held high, she spun on her heel and moved toward the door, slipping back through it without a backward glance.
He wished her back the moment she was gone.
He hated that he’d been the one to smother the fire in her eyes. But what else could he do? Henry rang for his valet, then surveyed the watery mess that was all over the floor. He was no fool. This was how it would always be. She may barge into his life, cause his pulse to race and his whole being to yearn for her, but in the end, he’d be left standing about in a mess.
Dinah had already held on longer than he’d expected. But the time would soon come. Henry’s bluntness, the drive with which he lived every day of his life, the way he tackled each problem as though the wellbeing of his family depended upon his success—Dinah would see it eventually, then Henry wouldn’t have to smother the fire in her eyes. She would simply stop looking at him that way. She would find himtoo muchjust as everyone else did.
It was best she stop now because if she continued to look at him that way for much longer, he wasn’t at all sure he’d recover when she finallydidleave.
For the first time ever, not only did he fear taking the fire out of her eyes, Henry felt certain that when she left, she’d steal his as well.
