The Redemption of a Rogue by Jess Michaels

Author:Jess Michaels [Michaels, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Passionate Pen

Chapter 14

Imogen looked up from her coffee cup with a smile at the maid who had entered the room to take her plate. She had to resist the urge to stretch like a decadent cat. After all, she’d slept most of the morning away thanks to a very long and passionate night with Oscar.

He’d been gone when she woke, though, and she hadn’t seen him yet today.

“Do you know where Mr. Fitzhugh is?” she asked as she handed over the empty cup to join the rest of the breakfast dishes being cleared.

“In his study, I believe, ma’am,” the girl said, and for a moment her gaze flitted over Imogen.

She shifted beneath the look, subtle and gone almost immediately. Still, the stare was easily read. Her affair with the master of this house was common knowledge belowstairs, it seemed. Not a shock in such a small environment.

The Imogen of a week ago would have blushed at the realization. She knew she would have felt some shame at being seen as wanton or wild. But today she felt neither of those things. Oscar kept telling her that her desire and her pleasure and the things she wanted when he touched her were all natural. She was beginning to believe him.

At any rate, she would end up someone’s mistress one way or another when this was all over. She had to start becoming comfortable with the judgment that certainly came with it. Her goal was to one day be as confident and untroubled as Joanna seemed to be.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile as she got up and walked down the long hallways.

She took her time as she strolled, for she was in no hurry to see him. She knew what awaited her, after all. Smoldering heat and unfettered need and a man who made her feel both exhilarated and…safe. How those two emotions existed together, she wasn’t entirely sure. It was a dichotomy, just as the man himself was.

She reached his study door. It was closed, and she knocked gently. She heard him moving around, and then a curt, “Enter!”

She smoothed her skirts and did so with a bright smile. Oscar was seated behind his desk, bent over some paperwork. He didn’t look up. “What is it?”

“It’s me,” she said.

He glanced toward her, his gaze washing over her as it always did. Then, to her surprise, he returned his attention to the items on his desk. “Yes, I know. Did you need something, Imogen?”

She blinked at the cool and almost dismissive tone of his voice. After yesterday, both in the carriage and in his bed, she was certain things had shifted between them. Yet he offered her no connection today, not even the barest hint of one.

She cleared her throat and forced herself to be as detached as he was. “I have been thinking about my situation and I know my staff must be concerned about me.”

“They’ve been informed of your safety and I have paid their wages for the next month,” he said, again not looking up.

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