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“I’m bringing books and correspondence to review.”
“Review for what?” He followed behind her as she pulled the key for the lock box from the drawer and opened the lid.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll start learning about the affairs that concern me during the drive and I’ll continue to do so when we reach the duke and duchess’s home. I’ll not be caught unaware again.”
Aunt Clara appeared in the door next to Jacob then. “Now, see,” the other woman said with a small smile. “Her eyes told the real story.”
Emily didn’t know what that meant but she didn’t think on it or ask as she began searching the box.
Pulling out groups of letters and books, she waved hand. “See if you can find a crate.”
“A crate?”
She looked up then. “For the papers. For our investigation. I’m assuming this will give you a place to start when you return to London.”
His lips parted as he stared at her for a moment. “A crate.” And then he turned to do as she bid. A wave of pride washed over her. Finally. Someone had listened to her.
She returned to the box, wondering if she’d upset him. He’d been so angry—and he was the last person she wished to make angry—but all the same, she needed to be part of this.
“Well done, girlie,” Clara said leaning against the door.
“Why do you say that?” she asked, pulling out a stack of letters that all seemed to be from Barrow.
“You’ve got his hackles up and he’s starting to froth. Keep pushing. Unsettle him.”
Emily lifted her head. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Men like a challenge. Give him one.”
She didn’t want to challenge Jacob. She wanted his help.
But then the idea of them both being heated, the image of dark looks and heavy breathing, made her whole body tense up. She straightened. “Hackles and froth?”
Clara gave a low, husky laugh. “I’ll teach you a few things. It will make the journey less dull.”
Emily cocked her head. She was very interested in learning whatever Clara might be able to teach. No matter which future she decided upon, she was certain that Clara’s education would prove useful.
Jacob attempted to sit still as the carriage ambled down the road. It would take the rest of today, all of tomorrow, and a good portion of the next day to reach Wingate’s estate in Northampton.
Which meant he was trapped in a very small space with the lovely and enticing Emily.
He’d let her get under his skin earlier, he knew that. Odd because he never cracked. Not when his mother claimed he was good for nothing or that his brother Eric should be the baron and not Jacob.
He’d learned to tune her out years ago. And he’d applied that skill to nearly every facet of his life. For example, he didn’t get angry when he had to sell a property and men chuckled behind their cheroots at the club.
He didn’t fuss when fans snapped and whispers followed him. Nor was he concerned when men didn’t include him in their business’s ventures because they thought him incapable. Never mind that the debt had been his father’s, not his.
But something in Emily thinking that she needed to provide for him had riled him. He was a man. A man who was perfectly capable of providing and protecting a woman who needed it. The fact that she didn’t think so…
Well, it had made anger bubble up inside him. He’d been tempted to insist that he was slowly improving his financial position. He normally didn’t care what others thought but with her he’d grown…defensive.
Not only did she make him question himself with her assumption about his character, but she’d attracted him with her beauty and resolve. Even now, her scent filled his carriage, an intoxicating mix of floral notes with just a touch of sweet that made him sure she’d taste delicious.
Her pale skin glowed in the dim light, her lips softly parted as she glanced out the window, her fingers softly holding the curtain.
She’d pinned her lush brown hair away from her face. A thick shiny mass he could picture tumbling down her back.
“Tell me,” Clara started, giving him an eye. “How did you know Emily’s brother?”
