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“All finished, my lord.” She replaced the pen and almost reached up to see if her hair was still confined. He brought out nervous tendencies in her.
“You love numbers.”
She nodded and rose from the chair, setting the plate back on the tray. “I do.”
“Good. Now sit back down and explain how you just set up my new venture.”
“It is the same as your others, my lord. You told me you understood those.”
He shrugged unrepentantly. “This is different.”
Suspicion flared. “You are doing this on purpose.”
His grin was wicked. “Scared?”
Only that she might not be able to behave. “No, my lord.”
He gestured to the chair she had just gotten out of. “Then take your seat. Unless you would like to do this on the settee.”
Heat raced through her at the thought of being pressed close to him in a smaller space.
“Here is fine, my lord.”
“I cannot wait for the day you call me Phillip.” His words were low and intimate.
Ignoring the screaming voice in her head that told her this was a mistake, she responded, the brutally honest words sliding free. “I do every night in my dreams.”
She’d never known gray could swirl with such passion and heat.
Chapter Eleven
“I do every night in my dreams.”
God, he couldn’t get her words out of his head. He’d not seen her for longer than a few moments the past few times she’d been out to take care of the books, other issues demanding his attention.
Not that it mattered. The moment he entered his office he could smell her, the incredible scent she wore like a blanket. A smell he was desperate to have on his sheets and all over his skin.
Permanently.
Whenever he walked into his office, it was in pristine condition. Nothing out of place, even the books put back. Again, if not for the knowledge she’d been there or the scent lingering in the air, he wouldn’t have known.
At first, he’d thought she had been avoiding him, but he’d realized that it was he who had been otherwise occupied when she’d been here.
He needed to see her. And they needed to discuss the fact she was still working all those other jobs.
Did he want to monopolize all her time? Fuck yes. But regardless of his selfish desire, he was one hundred percent impressed with the woman she was and how she made sure to handle her business. She wasn’t rolling over and letting anyone take care of her.
Fine, it is not anyone else, but I should be allowed to care for her.
Possessive?
Hell yes.
He walked around his desk, dragging his fingers along the back of the chair she’d been using. Closing his eyes, he envisioned her in there with him. His gut clenched as he envisaged her bent over the books, working to make sure all his numbers were in order.
“My lord.”
Phillip rubbed the nape of his neck. “What is it, Keating?”
“You asked us to keep an eye out for someone snooping around. Two of the footmen caught a man in the back, in the stores.”
Shoving thoughts of Fyre to the back of his mind, he walked with purpose to where Keating stood by the door. Their gazes met and together they headed to the outbuilding where he stored his harvested items before they were taken to the docks and shipped out.
Davie and Marcus were the two holding the man. Marcus had a pitchfork aimed at him as they stood over him, keeping him on the ground and unable to run.
Phillip didn’t recognize the man and walked closer, noting how the intruder paled at the sight of him. The man’s tanned skin was pockmarked and he was missing some teeth.
“I did not mean any harm, my lord. Please let me go. You will never see me again.”
“You meant no harm? Yet my men find you trying to steal from me? How is that not doing harm?” He crossed his arms. “Who are you and why are you trying to steal from me?”
He blanched and squirmed on the hard, unforgiving floor. Phillip had no sympathy for him.
“My family is hungry.”
Phillip didn’t blink. He just stared at him.
“The man said he would pay if I did this for him.”
“Who said? What man?”
“He will kill me if I give his name. Then he will go after my wife and children.”
Waving off his men, Phillip waited until it was just the two of them in there before crouching down by the man. “I do not recognize you from this island. Where were you recruited? And did this man who hired you tell you that I was an earl?”
He hadn’t thought it possible for the man to pale further.
“You can have me killed.”
“Yes, and I would not lose any sleep over it. I do not tolerate people who steal from me, or try to. So, we will try this again. You will tell me what you know, all of it, and then I will decide if you will be able to see your family again.”
