Regency Rakes Collection by Wendy Vella

Author:Wendy Vella [Vella, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vella Ink
Published: 2015-12-19T23:00:00+00:00

Claire had washed and pulled on her nightdress. Unpinning her hair, she then remembered there was no way of getting it back on top of her head tomorrow. She should have left it up, as it was unlikely she would sleep tonight anyway. Brushing it vigorously, she thought she could perhaps manage a simple bun or even a braid. Lying on the bed, she looked into darkness and tried not to think about Simon doing the same just a few feet from her. Would he be asleep already, his big body slumbering peacefully until morning? Claire closed her eyes and tried to clear her thoughts.

Was the child a boy or a girl? How old was it? The questions suddenly began to roll around again inside her head.

Determined to get a few hours sleep, she fell back on what she did most nights. Counting the doors in her brother’s townhouse and then the servants. The problem was that as soon as she lay down, she was suddenly wide awake, and usually stayed that way.

After several hours, Claire gave up and slipped out of bed and lit her candle. At least if she walked about or read, her thoughts were focused on something other than her problems. Wrapping a shawl around her, she went barefoot from her room. She tiptoed down the hall, hoping Simon would stay asleep. Remembering the carriage and how deeply he had slept, she thought it was likely he would. In fact, Claire was fairly certain it would take a herd of stampeding cows to disturb him. The bottom stair creaked, but she heard no sound from behind her, so she made her way back into the room that held all the books. There were so many of them. Lifting the candle, she ran her hand along the titles and settled on a work about how to nurture seedlings. Surely that would be boring enough to put her to sleep.

“Claire, what are you doing?”

She spun around so quickly that the book fell from her hands and the spine split as it landed on the hard floor. “You startled me, Simon!” Placing the candle on the table, Claire dropped to her knees and gathered the broken book into her hands carefully. “I will have it fixed. Your friend need not know.”

Large, warm hands wrapped around hers as she stood. He took the book from her and then turned her to face him. “It’s a book on gardening, Claire. I’m sure no one is going to be concerned if it is a bit damaged.”

He wore no shirt, his chest bare, and Claire could feel the heat from it against her hands as he moved closer.

“I should have been more careful.” She couldn’t look at him. She was too tired, her emotions were in turmoil, and he was nearly naked. She had never seen a man’s chest before.

“Why are you not asleep?”

“Because I don’t.”

“You don’t sleep?”

“Must we have this conversation now? You should return to your bed and let me read up on how to nurture my seedlings.

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