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Driscoll snorted.
“—I will see you later.”
Once Dante left, Amelia stood and put food on her plate from the sideboard. She couldn’t starve herself all day in anticipation of working that night. She sucked in a breath as she suddenly remembered something. “I don’t have a mask!”
The words came out with almost a hysterical tone. She really needed to calm herself.
“It’s
all right, Amelia, I have a few in my office that I mentioned we used for our annual ball. When you are finished eating, we can pull them out and see which one suits you.”
“Oh, yes. I remember you saying that.” She took her seat again and tried her best to smile. “I might be a tad nervous.”
Driscoll grinned. “That is understandable.”
He didn’t seem willing to speak about the kiss from the night before, so she kept silent on it and began to eat her breakfast.
Driscoll stood and pushed in his chair. “I have some work that needs to be done if I am to have the time to spend on the floor tonight.”
Amelia looked up at him. “I can help you.” She smiled and noticed again he seemed to hesitate. “If you are going to help me, it only seems fair.”
He nodded. “Yes. That is a good idea. Well, then I will see you when your breakfast is finished.”
* * *
Driscoll strode to the office and threw himself into his chair, his legs stretched out, his fingers linked, resting on his stomach. He’d pretty much convinced himself that his infatuation with Amelia was just that. An infatuation. Nothing more. Something he would soon get over.
Then one look at her this morning, one smile from her lips and he was back to where he’d started. She fascinated him. She made him smile, made his days seem better and brighter than his days had been for quite some time. He wanted her, and not just to warm his bed.
But she was an enigma. He ran his fingers through his hair. Why did no one know her? Where was her family? Didn’t anyone miss her?
He pulled out his ledgers, ready to work. Before Amelia he couldn’t concentrate on his work because of an odd lack of interest. Now he couldn’t concentrate because Miss Amelia Pence had taken over his thoughts. Hell, she’d taken over his entire being.
She arrived while he was at last busy at work.
“What can I do to help?” She stood in front of his desk, her bright smile in place, and all he wanted to do was push the papers onto the floor and pull her across the desk.
He sat back, putting at least some distance between them. “Before we begin, I feel as though I should apologize for last night. I make it a point to not dally with my employees. Ever. And I should not have kissed you last night. I can assure you it will not happen again.”
Luckily, she did not mention that last night was not the first time he kissed her. Instead, she smiled and sat in the chair in front of his desk. “You are an honorable man, Mr. Rose. I can assure you I do not feel the need for an apology. If we were to be honest, I was as much involved in our encounter as you were.”
Whatever did that mean? That she approved of what he’d done? He decided to try once more. He stood and walked around the desk. He rested his hip on the edge of the desk in front of her, and took her hand, linking their fingers together. “Can you please tell me what or who you are running from? There is no point in denying it because it’s clear you are a lady, raised to have the sort of life most ladies of Quality have. Yet here you are working in a gaming club.”
She gave a soft sigh. “I do not think you a stupid man. Of course, I realize you know there is something I am keeping from you, but for now I am not comfortable discussing it. Can you just accept that I am an employee of The Rose Room, and just want to do the best job I can?”
No, he did not want to accept that for several reasons, but she was leaving him no choice. He wanted her nearby. He wanted to protect her from whatever it was she was dealing with. He wanted to court her in a proper, acceptable manner. Above board, in public, not hidden in the shadows of the club. He might even want to take her to various ton events. Hold her in his arms as they danced, stroll in a darkened garden with her, or one of the paths at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. All the things he’d eschewed for the last several years.
He looked down at their joined hands. As much as he hated having no control, and with everything inside of him chaffing at her request, if he wanted her, he would have to proceed on her terms. He glanced up at her bright blue eyes and smiled. “Let’s get to work, then.”
11
Amelia glanced at the clock once again. Only three minutes had passed since the last time she checked. It was nearing nine o’clock, the time she would go down to the game floor and begin working.
She paced as she waited for Driscoll to arrive. He wanted to bring her down, introduce her to those employees she had not yet met, and then have her deal a couple of hands before they officially opened the doors at nine-thirty.
A quick glimpse at the mirror over the dressing table caused her to pause and assess herself. She was dressed in a dark red satin gown, snug over her belly and pulled into the back into a slight bustle. Black lace covered the center of the bodice all the way to the hem. The neckline was proper enough, and the slightly puffed short sleeves were trimmed with the same black lace.
The frock had recently been made by the dressmaker who had arrived at her room the week before to measure her. Driscoll had insisted that the new dresses she’d bought on her shopping trip with him would not do for her to wear while working.
