Julianne MacLean by My Own Private Hero Read Free Book Online Page A

sneaky enough. I kept staring at it, imagining how I would hide it and keep it secret from my sisters. I picked it up and held it in my hand.”
    He smiled and nodded, seeming to understand. “But you didn’t take it,” he reminded her.
    “No, I put it back. So maybe I am a saint,” she said, mocking insight. “If you could have seen that candy stick—”
    “I’ll bet it was delicious.”
    She sighed. “I’ve always wondered.”
    They watched the fire for a few more minutes until Lord Alcester stood. He picked up thecushion from the chair and tossed it onto the floor close to the fire, but a few feet away from where Adele lay. “I think if I’m to sleep, I’ll need to stretch out,” he said.
    Adele shifted to get more comfortable. “The floor won’t be too hard? Or too cold?”
    He lay down on his side, facing her. “Not at all. This is a fine pillow, and my coat is warm. I’m just glad to be able to finally take a breath and close my eyes.” He stared at her for a few seconds. “Good night, Miss Wilson.”
    “Good night.” Adele lowered her head onto the pillow but continued to watch him in the firelight. She had to admit she was intrigued by him, and wanted to know more about the way he lived, which was so different from the way she lived. He seemed very different from Harold as well, yet they were close. She would like to know why and how.
    I’m just glad to be able to finally take a breath and close my eyes…
    She pondered that. He was glad because he had been on a mission to rescue her. He’d had to contend with the prospect of facing a kidnapper, or the prospect of finding her harmed. Or dead. He had worried over that prospect.
    And now, he had fulfilled his duty to Harold. His cousin and friend. She turned her thoughts to him . Her fiancé…
    Adele could only assume that Harold had been worried, too. She did not know because he had not come himself, but surely he had lostsleep as well. She certainly had. She was exhausted. Yet tonight, like the past three nights in this house, she did not want to close her eyes.
    This ordeal had been very difficult. She would be glad to return to her normal, safe life.
     
    Waking to the budding light of dawn the next morning, Damien opened his eyes. He lay on his side, looking at Miss Wilson across from him. She was still asleep, facing him, her cheek resting on her hands, the blanket pulled up to her chin. Her lips were parted slightly, and her breathing was slow and steady. It would be best, he decided, if he could rise without waking her, and simply leave as he had said he would, to fetch a coach and driver.
    He leaned up on an elbow and looked around. The fire had gone out sometime during the night, and the cottage was cold. Damien blew into his fists to warm his hands. Miss Wilson made no sound, so he quietly rose to his feet.
    He stood gazing down at her moist, full lips in the early light of the morning. Thick locks of curly, golden hair were spread out around her on the rough-hewn floor. Damien noted the delicate shape of her face, her tiny nose, and the soft, smooth texture of her skin.
    She was astoundingly beautiful. He had known it last night in the firelight, and the gray light of dawn did not diminish it in the least. Harold must have been enormously distractedby something to have forgotten to mention such a thing.
    Damien wondered suddenly if Harold realized how lucky he was, and if he’d been fighting lustful thoughts ever since he’d met her in America last spring.
    It was difficult, however, to imagine Harold having lustful thoughts about anything except his chemistry experiments. He had never described Adele—or any other woman, for that matter—in such a way. But he got a certain lusty look in his eye when bubbles started to form in a beaker.
    Harold should have come , Damien thought suddenly with a slight twinge of reproach as he thought about what Adele had gone through. How could Harold have trusted this important task to someone