said rules were are all quite boring and deserve to be broken thoroughly and often,” she could not resist pointing out.
“Saucy minx. My rules are not boring at all.” He winked. “Go on, then. Tell me or I shall have the servants come and whisk away the rest of the cream ices before you can sample them.”
“Villainy!” she exclaimed in mock horror.
He laughed, that wonderful mouth of his dipping into a smile that hit her in the heart. Sinfully handsome when he was serious, a laughing Decker was irresistible. For a moment, she laughed along with him, enjoying their lighthearted banter.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I am deadly serious about the cream ices. Tell me or they shall be banished.”
He was impossible.
Her heart gave a pang.
The laughter fled her. “Very well. I shall tell you, but you must promise me you will not share it with another soul.”
He pressed a hand over his heart. “I vow to take it to my grave. Now, do tell me what it is that makes Lady Jo Danvers smile.”
Cream ice, baby animals, good books, comfortable shoes, handsome hats, her family and friends, and now one more to add to the list: him. But if Jo had learned anything in the last few days, it was that creating lists of any sort was an endeavor she ought to avoid in the future.
“I was thinking of a nonsensical dream I had, if you must know,” she began, feeling foolish but carrying on anyway. “I dreamt I had commissioned an entire wardrobe made of crustaceans. The worst of it was they were all living, and there was a lobster that was pinching me in the side. When I woke up, I realized I had fallen asleep with a book in my bed, and the corner of it had been digging into me in my slumber.”
He chuckled. “I see the levity. You, my dear, have an utterly ridiculous imagination. I shan’t ask you why you were thinking of such a dream in the midst of sampling cream ices.”
Her lips twitched. “Thank you. A lady cannot reveal all her secrets in one night, you know.”
His gaze dipped to her lips. “Oh, I am aware of that. Trust me, I am more than aware.”
Her cheeks flushed once more. They finished their cream ices in companionable silence.
Chapter Five
The first note arrived the next morning, just after breakfast. Jo had taken her repast in her chamber, in keeping with her claims of having been ill the previous evening so her brother Julian and sister-in-law Clara would not find her actions suspicious. Miraculously, she had made her way back through the house just after midnight, drunk on claret and Elijah Decker, belly filled with cream ice, and had not been caught.
Jo was still in her dressing gown, taking her tea, reading her correspondence, and trying to distract herself from the nagging regret she had not been able to banish since she had risen that morning. Just after dawn, she had been up with a headache and a churning stomach.
One item crossed off her list, and yet, it had all been—aside from the erotic art on display in Decker’s library—shockingly innocent. It had not progressed as she had fancied a few hours alone with him, at his mercy, might.
For one thing, he had not attempted to kiss her.
For another, he had behaved as quite the gentleman, accompanying her on the carriage ride back to her brother’s townhome, not complaining when she had leaned against his shoulder and promptly fallen asleep as the carriage and his nearness had lulled her into the arms of Queen Mab.
But she had been beset by nothing but questions for all the hours since she had left her bed.
Heavens, had she snored? Should she have thrown herself into his arms? Kissed him? Was there a reason why he had not kissed her? Why the devil had she told him about her crustacean dream?
Her lady’s maid returned then, distracting Jo from her musings. And she brought with her another note aside from the correspondence she had delivered earlier, which she handed over immediately.
“This just came for you, my lady. I am told there will be a reply.”
The moment Jo saw the note, she knew instinctively it was from Decker. But the familiar handwriting confirmed her suspicions. She accepted it with far too much haste.
“Thank you, Burford,” Jo said, attempting to remain calm as she took the note to her writing desk and frantically devoured its contents.