The Duke's Wife (The Three Mrs #3) - Jess Michaels Page 0,81

of them dove into a far deeper conversation on the topic. But even as she and Diana became fast friends, she couldn’t help but think of Nathan and his expression when he left them alone.

The idea that he could be happy just by making her happy was…intoxicating. And she feared she could too easily be drunk on it and forget her senses if she was not careful.

Nathan was sitting at his desk a few hours after he had left Abigail with the Duchess of Willowby. A line of figures down his ledger was what he was supposed to be focusing on, but instead he kept thinking of Abigail and hoping she was having a good time.

As if conjured by his thoughts of her, the door to his study opened and she stepped into the room. Her face was lit up like a thousand candles and her eyes danced as she shut the door behind herself and leaned against it.

“Good afternoon,” he said. “Has the Duchess of Willowby left us?”

Abigail nodded. “Just now.”

“And did you have a good time?” he asked, even though he could see the answer written all over her face.

Her smile widened. “Oh, it was marvelous, Nathan!” she burst out as she came across the room toward him. “Diana is wonderful. She’s so clever and she’s been an actual practicing healer for years. She was so complimentary about my library, and then we walked the garden together and she helped me finally instruct the gardeners about what to plant and how. She also gave me some wonderful ideas about how to best utilize the greenhouse in Cornwall. I think she and the Duke of Willowby might come to visit us there. If that is agreeable to you.”

He had leaned back in his chair as she spoke, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Of course. I hoped you would get along and I’m so glad you did.”

“We are going to meet regularly,” Abigail continued. “And she has also invited me and your sister to a tea with the Duchesses, which is what everyone calls their group of friends.”

“That is an exclusive invitation,” he said. “I have never heard anything but wonderful things about their group, though. I am sure you will have a fine time and it will be good for Ophelia.”

She nodded. “Perhaps I could even help you out with the dukes. Get you in their club.”

He chuckled because it was clear she was teasing him. “A place in the famous 1797 Club. I might expire from excitement.” He waved his hands around playfully and she giggled.

But as she took a step closer to him, close enough to run her fingers down the edge of his desk, her smile fell. “Why did you…why did you do that?”

He wrinkled his brow. “Do what?”

“Arrange the meeting,” she clarified.

He held her stare as he reached out to catch her hand. He drew her closer, closer, into his lap. As she settled there, he lifted a hand to trace her cheek. “Why do you think?”

Recognition flared in her eyes, an understanding of what he was saying even if she darted her gaze away to avert it. Pretend it away. She cleared her throat. “Well, it was truly wonderful. Thank you.”

“I will do everything in my power to make you happy, Abigail,” he said. “For the rest of my life.”

She stiffened against him, and now she did force herself to look down at him. “Nathan,” she whispered. “We said that…I…I can’t…”

He ignored the sting that accompanied that truncated refusal. He had tested the waters, and while they were certainly warmer than they’d ever been, she still wasn’t ready. That was fine. He could wait.

“Don’t tell me what you can’t do,” he said softly. “I wasn’t asking for anything.”

Her brow wrinkled. “How can you not?”

“Ask for anything?”

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking a great deal about our arrangement since the argument a few days ago. You could have married a woman with connections and a dowry to add to your coffers. Instead you ended up shackled to me, a woman who drags a scandal behind her big enough that you had to create an elaborate lie to make me palatable. A woman you likely considered your enemy until recently. You share your home, your connections, your money, your time and…what do I give in return?”

“You give so much,” he said. “I like how you challenge me. Not just how we play, because we both know the wagers and the insults are all play. They’re seduction.