Her Reluctant Groom by Rose Gordon Read Free Book Online Page A

window. She struggled to sit up. “What did he say?” she asked, bringing one hand up to hold the top of her hair while her other hand groped around on the settee to find the hairpins that must have slipped out while she was sleeping.
    Marcus' fingers found her wrist and pulled her hand away from her hair. “Let it fall,” he said, his voice husky and uneven.
    She met his eyes and let him bring her hand away, half her hair following suit. Marcus reached up and slipped out the remaining pins, then handed them to her.
    “ What did he say?” she forced herself to ask.
    Ignoring her, Marcus ran his fingers through her silky blonde locks. “I had no idea your hair was so long.” He twisted a lock between his thumb and forefinger. “It's very soft, too.”
    “ I wash it with lavender oil,” she blurted.
    He brought the lock between his fingers up to his nose. “Indeed.”
    “ Marcus,” she whispered as his hand dropped her hair and caressed her cheek.
    Marcus didn't answer. Not with words anyway. He bent his head and captured her lips with his. His kiss was gentle and sweet as his lips moved on top of and in between hers.
    She wound her arms around his neck. She loved having his big, powerful body so close to hers. His kiss became more demanding as he focused his attention on her bottom lip and drew it between his lips where he nipped and soothed her sensitive flesh. She sighed, intoxicated. He continued his delightful ministrations on her lip, and she sighed again, forcing the faint creaking noise she heard far from her thoughts.
    “ Emma?”
    Emma's whole body jerked at hearing her name and her eyes snapped open, landing right on Marcus. Except, instead of it being dark, several candles were lit. She reached up and touched her hair. It was still perfectly pinned. She blinked at Marcus' grinning face and sighed.
    “ Good dream?” he asked, still grinning.
    She grabbed the pillow behind her and flung it at him. “Yes. And then you had to go and ruin it.”
    “ Care to tell me what you were dreaming about?” He ducked from the pillow she'd just hurled at him.
    She grabbed another. “No.” She blushed and hurled that pillow at him for good measure.
    He caught it against his chest. “Must have been a terribly good dream,” he mused.
    “ I don't think terribly and good should ever belong in the same sentence.” She sat up on the settee and put her feet back into her slippers.
    Marcus took a seat next to her. “Perhaps not.” He reached his hand up and smoothed back a stray lock of her hair. “But all the same, would you care to tell me what has stained your cheeks such a fetching pink and made you sigh so sweetly?”
    “ No, I wouldn't care to,” she retorted, grabbing at the missive in his hand.
    Marcus didn't try to move the paper away, he let her have it and leaned back to watch her as she read it.
    “ Here?” she squeaked. “He's having them brought here tomorrow morning at nine?”
    “ That's what it says.” Marcus’ voice reminded her of Louise talking to her three-year-old son. “He probably just wants to make sure it’ll work out before you move into his house. Think how upsetting it would be to the girls if it didn’t work out.”
    “ That is the most convoluted thing I’ve ever heard.”
    He shrugged. “That may be. But that seems to be his offer. Accept it or don’t.”
    She nodded and swallowed, then started wearing a hole in the rug. Did she have a choice? If he was to be her employer, she needed to heed his commands. No matter how asinine they may be. “All right. If I start at nine, that means I'll need to leave Watson Estate by eight at the latest. Which means I need to get up—” she bit her lip— “no later than five if I want to wash my hair. Hmm, if I don't wash my hair, that takes off the forty-five minutes it takes for it to dry. But I'll still need to bathe and—”
    “ Emma?”
    Her eyes flew to Marcus and she blushed fiercely. “Oh, sorry, I forgot you were