Leah Ramsey. She was altogether too headstrong and impetuous for her own good, but she was also selfless, caring, and compassionate.
His love could not change their circumstances, but that did not negate its value.
“Oh, Avery,” she whispered, and brought his mouth down to hers.
Their lips had met for the briefest of seconds when the creak of a door sounded.
“Miss Ramsey?” a young maid’s voice called. “Are you here?”
“Hi, Muriel,” Leah called in a shockingly calm voice as she smoothed down her skirts. Avery picked straw from her hair as she continued, “Sorry, I was just playing with some kittens I found in here. Go ahead, I’ll be right up.”
“Are you sure, miss?”
Avery swept Leah into his arms for one last kiss. With a regretful sigh, she pulled free of his arms.
“Here I am.” She left the stable with Muriel, not looking back in his direction.
Once he’d dressed, he picked up her discarded lace fan and tucked it into his coat pocket.
He’d tumbled her in a stable. What a common, lowly beggar he was. But try as he might, he could not regret what had passed between them. He could only resolve to abstain from future lapses.
But that conviction, as he left the empty stable behind, was shaky at best.
Leah peered out her bedroom window as unobtrusively as she could. Even though her bedroom overlooked the stables, she never saw Avery leave. He’d probably followed her out, the high-handed, ridiculous, sexy bastard.
Muriel picked pieces of straw out of Leah’s skirts, her scolding comments about young ladies who play with kittens in ball gowns going right over Leah’s head. She was too sodden with afterglow to give a crap about ruining an expensive dress.
Avery loved her. The confession had come in a roundabout way, sure, but he’d said it all the same. In a fog, Leah lifted her arms over her head at Muriel’s command. While enveloped in the column of her beautiful dress, a sudden thought struck her.
She hadn’t told him that she loved him too.
He had to know that, right? She hadn’t had a chance to say the words, but he had to have gotten the gist of her feelings by the way she jumped him like a bullfrog in heat.
Muriel’s yawn startled Leah as her nightgown settled around her.
“I’m sorry, Muriel. I didn’t mean to keep you up so late. Go ahead to bed, okay?” Her swift hug must have startled the maid, because she jumped.
“If you have all you require, then I shall see you in the morning.” Muriel pulled away with a tired smile and headed for the bedroom door.
Leah sank onto the edge of her fluffy, comfortable bed.
Muriel probably had to get up at o’dark-thirty, just like Leah had during her brief stint as a maid. It had to be after two in the morning. While Leah had been wound up in Avery, the poor girl had been stuck waiting for her, probably wishing she could just go to bed.
When had she become such a self-absorbed bitch? After Kevin, she’d thought she learned what it felt like to be used. She’d never thought she might be thoughtlessly using people herself.
Lady Chesterfield and Muriel would both be getting a sincere apology tomorrow, she promised inwardly as she sank into the covers.
And Avery would get his return declaration of love as soon as she saw him again.
She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.
Her eyes opened only a brief second later. Sunlight streamed through the window, making her soft peach bedroom glow. She stretched luxuriously, relishing the tenderness of her thighs.
“Avery.” She couldn’t help but say his name aloud. The sound made her feel warm, safe, and loved. What a man she’d found, and she hadn’t had to slay any dragons to do it.
A soft knock on the door drew her into a sitting position.
“Come in.”
Muriel appeared with a tray.
“Good morning, miss. I’ve your chocolate here.”
Leah grinned. “Great. Bring it over.”
Muriel cocked her head curiously as Leah held her hands out for the tray. “You want the tray in bed with you, miss?”
“Hand it here.” Leah set the tray on the foot of the bed and scooted over. “Now here. Sit with me.”
“Oh, miss, I couldn’t.” Muriel shook her head, but an embarrassed smile was beginning to spread across her face. Leah patted the spot next to her.
“Come on, I don’t bite unless you ask.”
Muriel giggled and settled on the edge of the bed next to Leah.
Picking up the cup of chocolate, Leah smiled at the maid. “See? I’m not so scary.” She took a deep whiff of the chocolate in the cup. It smelled like heaven, but she passed it over to the maid anyway.
“Here.”
Alarm crossed Muriel’s face as she took the cup. “But it’s yours, miss. Is it not to your liking? Shall I have the cook make a fresh cup for you?”
Leah grabbed Muriel’s arm to prevent the maid from running to the kitchens and overhauling them to produce the most perfect cup of hot chocolate the world had ever seen. “It’s fine, you goof. But I want you to have it.”
Muriel settled back down as Leah smiled wryly and continued, “I haven’t exactly been the most courteous houseguest. I kept you up way too late last night. You’ve been so wonderful to me the whole time I’ve been here, and I’ve taken you for granted. And believe me, anyone who can empty chamber pots for a living really deserves much more of my gratitude. So thank you.”
Muriel’s head bob nearly spilled the chocolate gripped in her eager hand. “It was my pleasure, miss.”
“Drink up.” Leah’s flop into the pillows wrenched a giggle from the maid. “We can chat and relax for a few minutes before you go attack whatever dust bunnies and dirt devils are on your list for the day. I can even help if you want.”
“It wouldn’t be proper, miss.” Muriel’s eyes closed in bliss as she took a sip of the hot chocolate.
“You haven’t known me too long, but I promise that I can be improper with the best of them.” Leah winked.
They fell quiet for a moment as Muriel sipped the chocolate. A memory sparked in Leah, about a story Jamie had told her.
“Muriel, wasn’t there someone you were interested in? A footman or something?”
The maid’s cheeks went red. Leah hastened to fill the gap.
“Sorry if the question is rude. I just wondered if the two of you were still together.”
Muriel stared down into the cup. “He became a sailor, miss. He’s in the Royal Navy. I’ve not heard from George for nigh on a year now.”
Leah didn’t know what to say, so she rubbed Muriel’s back. “I’m sorry.”
Muriel drained the rest of the chocolate. “Never mind that, miss. When he returns, we’ll wed. I’m sure of it.”
Leah nodded and smiled. “That’s the spirit.”
Leah didn’t get the chance to make good on her offer of housecleaning assistance, because Lady
