Grace by Deneane Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

her, Grace raised her small chin a notch and stared back at him, her embarrassment melting away into defensive antagonism.
    Regretfully, knowing the few friendly moments of shared warmth between them were now gone, Trevor wisely decided to retreat to the relative safety of polite conversation. “You found Mercy quite recovered, I hope?” he asked in a deliberately neutral tone intended to defuse Grace’s ire.
    Greatly relieved that he appeared content to let her brazen inspection of him pass without comment, Grace managed to quell her anger. She nodded hesitantly. “She certainly seemed quite happy with all the fawning attention she’s receiving.” She lapsed into an awkward silence, then cleared her throat delicately, rather uncomfortable with what she wished to say next. “I wanted to thank you, my lord, not only for your help with Mercy, but also for what you did for me at the dance this evening.” She paused awkwardly, chewing on her lower lip, as she often did when she felt ill at ease about something.“You know . . . with Harry.”
    Trevor lifted a shoulder in a small shrug eloquent in its negligence. “Please,” he said. “Think nothing of it.”
    Sebastian appeared in the doorway. Grace rose quickly to her feet, her relief at being rescued from the awkward situation glaringly evident on her expressive face. Trevor also stood, taking the hand she offered and pressing it briefly to his lips. Unnerved by the sudden rush of sensation she felt when his lips softly brushed the back of her hand, Grace hastily pulled it away, then blurted out the first inane thought that entered her mind. “Did I also apologize to you for my earlier rudeness?” Instantly she felt like kicking herself. Her voice sounded breathless, awed and quite completely foreign, she thought in disgust.
    Trevor reached out, lifted her chin with one long, aristocratic finger, and looked deeply into her eyes. “Again,” he said, his low tone reminding her of sun-warmed honey, “think nothing of it.” Her heart began to beat wildly as he slowly leaned in closer, his cheek next to hers. He lowered his voice still more to a whisper. “In fact, my dear, I rather enjoyed your close examination of my person,” he said. His warm breath against her ear sent sudden chills skittering down her spine.
    When the full import of his words finally hit her, her mouth dropped open. Trevor grinned, then straightened and strolled across the room toward Sebastian without a backward glance.
    “My lord!” Her voice rang out much more loudly than she had intended.
    Trevor turned, his dark brows raised expectantly.
    “That wasn’t what I meant,” she said, her small chin jutting out defensively.
    Trevor smiled. “I know,” he said softly, then turned and walked from the room with Sebastian, leaving Grace standing stiffly beside her chair. She fumed at first, and then, after a moment, reluctantly smiled to herself. After all, she
had
been staring.
    At Bingham Ackerly’s insistence, they enjoyed a late supper. He invited the duke and the earl to stay at the Ackerly home rather than returning, at such a late hour, to the village inn, where neither the accommodations nor the repast would have been nearly as agreeable. They spent a pleasant hour at the table, especially enjoyed by Trevor, who had never had the experience of dining on good, simple fare with a large, loving family. He sat quietly, content to watch the sisters and their father pass plates of food to one another, laughing now and then at something somebody said, enjoying the good-natured banter that came easily to a family well used to communicating with one another. He found himself comparing this rather simple existence to the opulent manner in which he had grown up, and wondered which family he would describe as the richer.
    Now, as he lay in his borrowed bed, staring through the inky darkness in the general direction of the ceiling, his thoughts once again centered on the amazing and