The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,81

and quietly told Mrs. Barton a truncated version of what had happened in the nursery. The housekeeper’s cheeks paled and she reached over to steady herself on the wall.

“My goodness,” she gasped. “How terrifying. What can we do, my lord?”

“Fetch Nan and have her sleep in the room with Kenley tonight rather than her adjoining chamber. And have Mr. Barton step out and raise a hand from the top of the landing. Hopefully that will signal to the guard who has been watching the house this last week and he’ll come.”

“A guard!” Mrs. Barton gasped, and looked at Phillipa.

“Not a very good one considering what nearly happened here tonight,” Rhys muttered.

Phillipa shook her head. “Who would have guessed Rosie would climb up the trellis on the back of the house and climb in through the window? I wouldn’t blame him for a lack of that forethought. Obviously I shared in it or I would have been more vigilant about everyone double-checking the sashes.”

Rhys glanced at her. Of course she would defend the man. And she wasn’t wrong. Her perspective helped to rein in his own, and he so desperately wanted to kiss her in that moment that he had to clench his fists at his sides to control himself.

“When the gentleman comes in, explain what happened and have him begin a perimeter search of the area just to insure there are no other easy means of access that could be exploited. I do not think that Miss Stanton will return—in fact, I’m almost certain of it. But it will make us all feel better to have something to do.”

“Yes, my lord,” Mrs. Barton said before she hurried off to do what had been asked of her.

When she was gone, Rhys took Phillipa’s hand and led her down the stairs and into the front parlor. He hadn’t been here since before moving day, when he’d come alone and stood in the empty place, hoping it would be good for this woman he loved and the child who connected them.

Now he smiled, for in the short time she had lived there, Phillipa had begun to take over. The rooms looked of her, with their bright furniture and piles of books stacked here and there. If he were so lucky as to win her heart tonight, she would take over his home in London too. She would manage his life here and everywhere else they went. She would challenge him and bend him and shape him into a better man just by being…her.

“You are staring at me,” she said as she crossed the room away from him to the fire. “I’m sure you have a great deal to say.”

He almost laughed as he shut the door behind himself and closed them in together. “I can hardly sort it all out in my head.”

She pivoted slowly, and her gaze slid over him from head to toe and then back to his face. She clenched her hands before her and said, “Then allow me to help. Up in the nursery you said something about how you had violated my wishes to come here.”

“Yes, you made it very clear that you didn’t want me to intrude, to make things harder for you with my presence,” he said. “And I know I’ve broken my promise not to do so.”

Her expression softened. “Then why did you do so? You couldn’t have known that Rosie would be here, so you didn’t come to ride to my rescue. You and I have not spoken for a week…since that last…” Her voice trembled. “…night together before our household moved here. So why did you come, Rhys, unannounced and uninvited, when we have fought so hard not to hurt each other?”

Rhys could hardly breathe as he moved toward her a step. He watched her pupils dilate, desire sparking there alongside the deeper emotions that lined her face. But he also saw her stiffen, steel herself to reject him again because she thought she had to. Because she believed it would protect them both against a storm when they were already in the heart of it.

“Phillipa,” he began. “I came here tonight because I’ve been fighting something for so long. Almost since the first moment I met you, when you looked up at me and my breath just left my lungs.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Rhys, please…”

“I can’t hold it back anymore. I don’t want to.” He stepped closer again and she let out the tiniest whimper, like his nearness pained her.