Or, he might well be in the dining room eating eggs and reading the London Times.
He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and quirked a brow. “Ah, it is you, Victoria. With all that stomping about, I thought perhaps we’d been invaded by marching soldiers.”
Oh, how droll. How humorous. And how irritating that she wouldn’t think of a cutting set-down until sometime next week. And ‘twas even more irritating that he looked so divine. Dressed in a snowy white shirt adorned with an obviously hastily knotted cravat, a cream waistcoat, and a Devonshire brown jacket that bore several wrinkles, he should not have looked so… perfect. Especially since his dark hair looked as if he’d combed it with nothing more than impatient fingers. Hmmm… what color breeches was he wearing? She found herself rising onto her toes in an effort to answer that question, but the mahogany table thwarted her view. Fawn, most likely, she decided, envisioning his muscular legs encased in light brown. Forcing the image from her mind, she touched her heels back onto the parquet floor.
“It appears we are the only early risers,” Nathan said. He nodded toward the sideboard lined with silver warming trays. “Please help yourself. Do you prefer coffee or tea?”
“Coffee, please.” The instant the words left her mouth, a young footman jumped into action to serve her beverage. After filling her plate with eggs, thinly sliced ham, and a flaky muffin the mere looks of which set her mouth to watering, she sat down opposite Nathan.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked, raising his china cup to his lips.
“Very well,” she lied. She’d spent a miserable night tossing, fretting, alternately wondering if he was searching for the jewels without her and vividly recalling the taste of his kiss, the feel of his hard body pressed against her, wrapped around her. In desperation she’d retrieved the Ladies’ Guide from her portmanteau, but reading the sexually explicit book had done nothing to calm her. Indeed, the sensual words had only served to further fuel her already heated imagination. “Did you sleep well?”
“No.”
“Oh? Why not?” Skulking about in the woods looking for jewels, were you, Lord of the Spies?
“Do you really want to know, Victoria?”
Something about that silkily asked question and the steady gaze he’d pinned her with tingled a warning along her nerve endings. Pulling off a bit of biscuit, she raised her chin. “Yes, I do.”
He nodded at the footman, dismissing the young man. After the door closed behind him, Nathan leaned forward on his forearms, cradling his delicate china cup between his large palms. “I didn’t sleep well last night because my mind was too crowded.”
“So you were here? In the house?”
“Of course. Where else would I-” His words chopped off and he leaned back. “I see. You thought I was out skulking in the woods, looking for the jewels without you.”
His words so precisely mirrored her thoughts, a guilty flush heated her face. “Isn’t skulking about in the woods what spies do best?”
“I can’t deny it’s something I’m good at, but it’s not what I do best.”
“And what do you do best?”
His gaze dipped to her mouth, then he shot her a mischievous grin. “Ah, an interesting question if I’ve ever heard one. Are you certain you want to know the answer, Victoria?”
Heat whooshed through her and her toes curled inside her shoes. God help her, yes, she wanted to know. Desperately. Especially since that gleam in his eyes made it clear the answer was something that would leave her breathless. But it wouldn’t do to let him know that. Indeed, clearly the best way to deal with him was to play his game. Looking directly into his eyes, she asked softly, “Are you offering to tell me, Nathan?”
“Do you always answer a question with a question?”
“Do you?”
He laughed. “Sometimes. Usually when I’m stalling for time. Is that what you’re doing?”
“Certainly not,” she replied with a sniff.
“As for what I do best, I’d be delighted to tell you. Even more delighted to provide you with a demonstration.”
Whoosh. Another wave of heat engulfed her. She attempted her most prim expression but wasn’t certain she succeeded, as it was difficult to appear prim while sensual images danced through her mind. “Here? In the dining room?”
“Certainly not the most traditional of locations, but if that is your wish, I’m willing to forgo convention.”
An unladylike snort escaped her. “You? Willing to forgo convention? Thank goodness I’m not prone to the vapors lest that statement would send me into a serious decline.”
He waved his hand in a magnanimous gesture. “Feel free to succumb. As I am a physician, I could immediately set you back to rights.”
“Immediately? So then doctoring is what you do best.”
A smile that could only be described as wicked curved his lips. “No. Doctoring is what I do when I’m not doing what I do best.”
Oh, my. Surely he didn’t mean… but, oh yes, based on that devilish grin, he clearly did. Despite the knowledge she’d gained from reading the Guide, she suddenly felt woefully unprepared to continue this conversation. In an effort to regain the upper hand, she adopted the chilly tone that never failed to put people in their place. “How delightful for you. Now, what is the plan for today?”
“Plan?”
“To locate the jewels.”
“I haven’t the vaguest idea.”
Victoria laid down her fork. “Haven’t the vaguest idea? After thinking about it all night long?”
“What makes you think that pondering the location of the jewels is what filled my thoughts last night?”
“Because it should have been. If I’d lain awake all night it most certainly would have been what I’d pondered.” Her conscience jumped up and shrieked with outrage. Liar! You were wide-awake, and maps and jewels were the last thing on your mind! She suddenly stilled. Was it possible that Nathan had suffered from the same sensual thoughts that had stolen her sleep? If so…
Whoosh. Good lord, it was hot in here. She barely refrained from fanning herself with her linen napkin.
“Then how unfortunate for our search plans that you slept so well,” Nathan said in a dust dry voice. “I did study the drawing and the letter further, but was unable to glean anything more. I also drew the grid map of the estate. I suggest we begin in the northeast corner and work from there. In the letter I sent off to your father yesterday explaining, in code, how you lost the note-”
“You mean how your goat ate the note.”
“-I requested that he send another drawing. Unfortunately, given the distances involved, by the time the note reaches him in London and a reply is returned, at least a fortnight will have passed. I’d hoped to have this matter settled by then.”
“So you can return to your home in-where is it again? Little Longstone?”
“Yes.” He tossed back the last of his coffee. “I’m certain you’re anxious for this matter to be settled as well so you can return to London. To your parties and shopping excursions and your suitors. So you can choose your husband and plan an extravagant wedding.”
“Yes, that’s what I want,” she said, a frown burrowing between her brows at the sudden hollow sensation in her stomach. She lifted her chin a notch. “You make it sound as if there is something wrong with that.”
“Not at all. If that’s what you want…” He shrugged.