Earl of Gold (Lords of Scandal #7) - Tammy Andresen Page 0,36

had entered. A warm sensation washed through him.

After seeing Baxter out, he made his way up to his room. He set his candle on his dressing table and shrugged off his coat, flinging it across a chair. Then he sat and began removing his boots.

He heard a soft sigh emit from the bed. A sleepy sound that made him go absolutely still.

Getting up, he crossed the room, leaving the candle on the table.

Sure enough, a small lump was settled directly in the middle of his bed. Gently peeling back the covers, a blonde nest of hair met his gaze. Pulling them back further, he found Natty, sound asleep, in the dead center of his canopied mattress.

Logan chuckled to see the little girl with her thumb tucked in her mouth. Still, he couldn’t very well go to bed like this.

His pulse jumped. He’d have to get Penny. There was no other option.

A slow grin spread across his face.

Penny lay in bed, exhausted but unable to fall asleep.

She’d managed to change out of her gown on her own, though it hadn’t been easy, and she’d slipped into her old, faded night shift.

Which had served to remind her that she was just a simple girl who’d been orphaned and now wanted to start an orphanage.

She’d never become the wife of an earl.

Not that she wanted to be.

She rolled her neck as a sigh escaped her lips. All right, fine, she did.

But even if her fantasy became a reality, which it likely wouldn’t, marrying a man like Logan meant giving up some of her dreams.

How could she be a countess and still manage several orphanages? And that was only the first question.

Logan struck her as a man who needed his own mending, and she had a full plate of children that craved her love and affection.

And even if all that weren’t an issue, how likely was he to want her?

He was a man who strove for perfection. Even she could see that. And she was as far from perfect as a woman might be for an earl. Well, there were worse, she supposed but then again, he wasn’t likely to be acquainted with those women, so she was back to her prior point.

Letting out a huff of breath, she rose from the bed, shoving off the covers. Her feet slapped against the cold floor, but she paid the sensation no mind as she began to pace.

She could not be his paramour. Too many other people relied on her for their own health and safety.

But that kiss…

She rubbed her face, letting out a loud groan. Her heart and her head were at odds. She lowered her head toward her chest.

A knock at the door made her chin snap up. It had to be close to two in the morning.

“Penny,” Logan called from the other side. “We have a bit of a problem.”

“What?” Her heart rose in her throat as she raced to the door tossing it open.

He stood there, large and imposing on the other side. “Natty,” he started.

Her pulse raced. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s in my bed.”

Penny blinked. “Is she hurt?”

“I don’t think so. I just found her there, asleep under the covers.”

Penny slumped against the jamb. “You scared me.” Then she straightened. “Why didn’t you just carry her to her own bed?”

His mouth opened and then closed and then opened again. “I didn’t think of that.”

Somehow, all the worry of the night overwhelmed her, and her head dropped against the cold wood. “I don’t think I am strong enough to do this.”

He shook his head, reaching out to touch her arm. “I’m sorry. I can carry her to her bed. You don’t have to lift her at all.”

“Not that,” she whispered, her voice a bit hoarse. “All of it. Once upon a time I had a family who held me up when I was about to fall. Now there is no net. I’m all alone and so many people depend on me.”

Somehow the words deflated her further. On the one hand it felt so good to say them. Admit to someone she was tired, and afraid, and sure she’d fail.

On the other, it only seemed to make her feelings more real, finally speaking them out loud. “What if I don’t succeed? What will happen to them?”

He sucked in a breath and suddenly his arms were about her. He was warm and strong and so solid that her hands snaked about his waist too. “You won’t fail. I won’t let you. And you’re not alone. I’ve