The Bachelor's Valet (Flos Magicae) by Arden Powell

Author:Arden Powell [Powell, Arden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

AN UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATION IN WHICH TOO MUCH IS LEFT UNSAID

Jacobi didn’t relent until Alphonse was packed into the passenger seat of the car with the door shut firmly behind him. Only then did he withdraw and allow Alphonse to wipe his mouth with the back of one sleeve, scowling mightily, as much from the indignity of his exit as from the sudden lack of Jacobi's body against his.

"You should have let me finish. I had a lot more to tell him."

"I was instructed to disregard everything you had to say, sir," Jacobi said as he slid into the driver's seat and turned the engine to life. "I inferred, therefore, that your intentions were to be likewise mistrusted, and best thwarted."

"That's not right at all!" Alphonse twisted around in his seat, glaring back at the house through the rear window. "I was so looking forward to telling him what for. I'd finally figured out the measure of him, and then you—thwarted!" He sat straight and crossed his arms with a harrumph.

"If you're of a similar mind tomorrow, you're welcome to finish the conversation, sir." Jacobi kept his eyes fixed on the view through the windshield as he pulled out of the long estate drive and onto the road proper, heading back towards the city. "But until then, I strongly suggest you keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself."

"Ugh," said Alphonse, settling deeper into his seat for a good sulk, but once he was settled, he found his eyelids growing heavy and his body coming over all floaty again. "I expect you're right," he allowed grudgingly. "You usually are, about most things." Rolling his head to the side, he blinked at Jacobi, the bright afternoon sun catching in his lashes and, to his addled brain, making Jacobi seem painted in starry gold, all a-glimmer. "That's why I like you so much," he explained, his voice slipping into a tone far too sincere, and he was helpless to stop it. "Your dependability, you see. Absolutely steadfast in all ways. It's not many chaps who can say they've got such a stalwart companion by their side, and I don't take it for granted. Not a bit."

Cracking a yawn, he covered his mouth with one hand before getting distracted by the way the light slanted down in between his fingers. And from there, how it landed on Jacobi, its touch as light as a lover's, painting him in delicate sheets of sunbeams like an old master's portrait of royalty from centuries past. Alphonse stared at him, his mouth slightly open, though no words came out, with his heart shining from his eyes. Jacobi cast him a brief glance before returning his attention to the road. Alphonse couldn't tell what Jacobi saw in him in that moment, but he knew he ought to mask it. It did no good, wearing one's emotions so plainly on the face like that, especially not so inappropriate an emotion as love. Not that love was inappropriate in itself: to

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