An Unexpected Earl (Lords of the Armory #2) - Anna Harrington Page 0,68
on hers. “We won’t let them harm the ones we love.”
He couldn’t tell her anything more. Not yet. But he could offer assurances, however limited.
“Believe me, Amelia.” He gently touched her cheek, and she trembled at his caress. “I would never do anything to harm you. Put your trust in me, and give me the chance to prove it.”
The hard stubbornness to keep him at arm’s length eased from her with the sagging of her shoulders and a faint pressing of her cheek into his palm.
Yet it was a gesture of exasperation, not surrender. She still held little trust in him. Her uncertainties ran too deep to vanish so easily.
A knock came at the door, and one of the barmaids called out, “Yer hot splash an’ good, as ordered.”
When Pearce moved the chair aside and opened the door, the girl beamed a smile at him, which turned apologetic when she glanced past him and saw Amelia wrapped in the blanket.
Pearce bit down a grimace. What she thought had been happening here was the furthest thing from the truth. Regrettably.
The maid carried a bucket of hot water in one hand and two tankards of ale in the other, and on her arm, she balanced a plate of food. Mumbling an apology, she hurried across the small room to place the bucket by the washstand and the food and ale on the desk. Then she pulled a bottle of whiskey out of one apron pocket and a glass from the other. Those she placed on the fireplace shelf.
Pearce tossed her a coin, and she closed the door as she left.
“Hot splash and good,” Amelia repeated the cant, bewilderment edging her voice. “You ordered hot water and food for us?”
Her surprise grated, that it wouldn’t occur to him to think of comforts like this for her. Hadn’t she learned yet? He put her first in his thoughts. Always.
“That river was filthy and freezing.” He snatched up his shirt from the floor. “I thought you’d appreciate hot water to wash with and some whiskey to warm you.”
“I do. I’m just…surprised, that’s all.”
He draped his shirt over the chair in front of the fire next to her dress and grudgingly bit out, “That I would think of that?”
“Well, yes. You’re an army officer. Or used to be. For a very long time. I wouldn’t think that you’d be conditioned to think of small luxuries like hot water when you’re fleeing attack.” She bent down to dip her fingers into the bucket to test the temperature. Thank God she didn’t see the ruefulness on his face for assuming that she thought the worst of him. “Especially for a woman.”
“You’d be surprised what I think about when I’m under attack,” he mumbled beneath his breath, turning away from the fire. “And you’re not an average woman.”
Her fingers froze in midsplash. Ignoring that compliment, she gestured toward the plate on the desk. “And the food?”
Breaking the tension between them, he popped one of the grapes into his mouth. “For me.”
“Of course.” Her lips twisted knowingly.
He nodded toward the washstand. “Go ahead. Wash up before the water grows cold.”
“So you can just stand there and eat all the food?”
He shot her a flirtatious grin. “And watch you.”
“Of course,” she repeated dryly.
He picked up a piece of cheese and gestured at the bucket with it. “Don’t let me stop you from taking off your shift and stockings, from rubbing soapy, warm water all over your bare flesh in the firelight.” He was teasing her to lighten the tension between them, but damnation, if his words didn’t make his cock ache for exactly that. “And by all means, take your time.”
“How very thoughtful of you.”
He trailed a lascivious gaze over her, his disappointment real that she was covered almost completely by that tent of a blanket. “I have only your best interests at heart.”
“I don’t think it’s in your heart where your interests currently lie,” she muttered, reaching down to lift the bucket and pour the steaming water into the basin.
He grinned and popped the cheese into his mouth.
She set down the bucket and circled a finger in the air. “Turn around.”
He feigned wounding. “And take all the fun out of bathing?”
“Turn around, Brigadier,” she ordered.
“I knew this was only a matter of time.” Doing as she asked, he turned his back to her and grumbled, “In the end, all women pull rank.”
A wet sponge smacked him in the middle of the back.