finger still marking the place where they’d stopped. She then pushed the chair back and stood. “I need to move to better light.”
Wesley had been about to suggest the same since the ink was fading on the following pages.
Miranda made her way around the desk and then settled onto the settee, which was situated closer to the windows and then opened the journal once again before she brought it closer to her face, making it impossible for Wesley to read over her shoulder.
Though, it was probably best that he kept his distance because a part of him was spending more time thinking about kissing Miranda than the words written within the journal. The way she’d been seated, elbow on the desk with her head tilted, and resting on her hand, and the dark curls falling away and revealing the silken length of her neck, was a temptation almost impossible to fight. He wanted to place his lips against the pulse and inhale Miranda’s intoxicating scent of apple with a hint of orange blossom. This combination was Miranda’s, and he’d been associating the scent with her since their first dance so many years ago.
Miranda placed the journal on the cushioned seat beside her, face down and fanned open to the pages she’d been reading before she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Is all well?”
“I usually wear spectacles when I read,” she admitted. “I didn’t think to bring them with me.”
Ah, so that was the reason she was bent so closely to the pages as she read at the desk.
“Where might they be?”
She sighed and lifted her chin, looking up at him. “I think they are with my embroidery, which is in the parlor. Or they could be in the library where I was reading, or they could be in the tunnels because I was reviewing schedules.”
She stood then planted her hands on her hips. “They could be anywhere, and I can’t remember the last time I wore them, and I don’t have the time to search Hollybrook Park.” She glanced around. “Or perhaps they are in my sleeping chamber.”
Wesley watched as she crossed and entered the other room.
He shouldn’t follow. He knew he shouldn’t be anywhere near a bed, especially while alone with Miranda, but his legs were not paying attention to his command and he strode forward. He paused just at the entrance. So long as he didn’t pass the threshold, he’d hold temptation at bay.
Why did he still want her? No matter how much his mind argued, his heart wanted to pull her close. “This is your chamber?”
“Temporarily, though I wouldn’t mind remaining here always,” Miranda answered as she went about the room searching the drawers in the dressing table and nightstand. “I stayed up here at Christmas last, when the manor was overrun with guests who were too frightened to stay at Castle Keyvnor.”
“Not this past June?” Wesley found himself asking.
“Adam wouldn’t allow guests, not with Charlotte so near her time to deliver their child.” Miranda stopped in the center of the room hands fisted on hips. “Well, they are not here.”
She marched toward Wesley, and he stood back so that Miranda could pass.
“I’m surprised your brother is allowing you to be in the attic, or did he send you here?” Surely her brother didn’t deem it necessary for Miranda to be sequestered, away from family and guests. An attic wasn’t a suitable place for anyone to reside, though this one was pleasant enough.
“Adam would prefer that I wasn’t here at all.” She laughed. “Honestly, I prefer it up here.” Miranda crossed to the room and opened a door and stepped out onto a balcony of sorts. “The view, fresh air, waves crashing against the cliffs.” She took in a deep breath then relaxed her shoulders as she blew out.
Wesley joined her at the railing and looked out. It was a magnificent view and he could understand why anyone would wish to spend time up here.
“Well, as much as I’d like to remain outside, I must return to search for the documents.” With that she frowned. “Or search for my spectacles.”
“I can read,” Wesley reminded her.
“Of course,” she laughed and waved away a concern. “I’m curious to learn what else Uncle Jonathan wrote. To be honest, I’m as much interested in his courtship of your grandmother as I am in finding the treaties.”
Wesley was as well since it gave him a glimpse into his grandmother’s past, though it wasn’t the more pressing need.