Investigating the Duke (Suddenly a Duke Book 8) by Alexa Aston

Author:Alexa Aston [Aston, Alexa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2023-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jasper interviewed three prospective nursemaids in a row. They all seemed capable of caring for a child. He thanked each one of them, saying he would be in contact with the employment agency regarding his choice. By the time the third one had left, he couldn’t have named a single one of the women.

Because he had been distracted the entire time he had talked to them.

Why in God’s name had he kissed Shelby?

More importantly, why had he waited so long to do so?

It had been years since he had kissed a woman. He hadn’t forgotten how to do it. What had surprised him was how different kissing Shelby was than any previous paramour. She tasted different. Felt different. Responded different.

And he knew now that he’d had a forbidden taste of her, his appetite could not be whetted until he had more of her.

Much more.

He blinked, startled by the strong feelings rushing through him. Dare he ask if they might indicate love?

No, it was impossible. Love didn’t spring magically to life.

Or did it?

He shoved aside all thoughts of Shelby Slade and took out his writing supplies, dashing off the same, brief note to each steward and ones which mirrored it to all his various butlers and housekeepers. He knew enough about servants to know that if he only wrote to the butlers, the housekeepers would feel left out, even if oftentimes they were married to the butler. In each letter, he introduced Mr. Roberts as his new secretary and asked that the staff members cooperate and provide Roberts with whatever he asked for during his stay. He concluded with saying that the information gathered by his secretary would be carefully read in order to help him gain a clearer picture of the estates he had inherited and ended with a promise that he still would visit as soon as he could manage.

After it had been determined whether or not his father or brother had been murdered, of course. And once that information was ascertained and he spoke to Shelby of marriage between them, they might make a honeymoon of visiting the various properties to familiarize themselves with his holdings.

He was getting ahead of himself. First, Shelby needed to come home and allow him to apologize to her. One step at a time.

He sealed each of the letters and left them on his desk, along with a list of his estates and their locations. Shelby couldn’t prepare such a list because she didn’t know anything about their names or counties. He hoped Roberts never asked him about her work. He doubted the man would, suspecting Roberts to be a most proper sort and never one to question his employer, especially since that employer was a duke. Besides, if Jasper wed Shelby as he planned to do, Roberts would never entertain the thought of asking private questions about the new Duchess of Edgehaven.

Restless, he stood and paced about the room and was still doing so when Shelby knocked and entered. Relief filled him as she closed the door and came toward him.

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