First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4)(81)

“Nothing that will not keep,” he told her. “Come. Let’s get that lease signed. Then we shall have some fun.”

She placed her hand in his and grinned, and he had a sudden flash of memory. It was from when they were tending to Freddie Oakes, and she’d smiled at him, and it had made him want to grab the sun from the sky and hand it to her on a platter.

It was still true. One smile from Georgiana, and he thought he could do anything.

Be anything.

Was this love? This crazy, heady feeling, this sense of endless possibility?

Could he have somehow fallen in love with his wife? It seemed too fast, too soon, and yet …

“Nicholas?”

He looked at her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. “You looked very far away.”

“No,” he said softly. “I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”

Her brow creased with confusion, and he couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t making sense. And at the same time, it felt as if the entire world was finally clicking into place.

Maybe this was love.

Maybe.

Probably.

Yes.

NINETY MINUTES LATER, Georgie was tiptoeing up the stairs in Mrs. McGreevey’s Respectable Boardinghouse for Bachelors.

“We’re not being very respectable,” she whispered.

Nicholas put his finger to his lips.

Georgie giggled. Quietly. She couldn’t help it. She felt positively giddy sneaking into Nicholas’s rooms.

The meeting with Mr. McDiarmid had gone smoothly, although Georgie could not help but be somewhat miffed at how much more accommodating he had been with Nicholas than with her.

She kept her complaints to herself, though; there was nothing to be gained by voicing them. She wanted the lease signed, and she wanted it signed quickly. It was clear that the most efficient path to her goals was to sit quietly and play the deferential spouse.

She knew it wasn’t the truth, as did Nicholas, and that was what was important.

Once they had all that taken care of, though, they still had a bit of time before she was supposed to meet Marian and Jameson for the ride back to Scotsby. Several hours, in fact. Nicholas had said that he would show her a bit of the city, but then they just happened to be walking past the boardinghouse, and Mrs. McGreevey just happened to not be anywhere in sight …

The next thing she knew she was giggling her way up the stairs.

“I feel so naughty,” she whispered as Nicholas turned his key in the lock.

“You are naughty,” he said. “Very, very naughty.”

He leered at her and before she knew what was happening, the door was closed behind them and he’d tossed her onto his bed.

“Nicholas!” she whisper-shrieked.

“Shhhhh. You’ll get me in trouble. I’m not supposed to have women here.”

“I’m your wife.”

He looked at her with a ridiculously innocent expression. “But think about how long it would take to explain that. All that time wasted when I could be doing this.”

Georgie let out a little squeak. She wasn’t sure if this referred to his hand on her thigh or his lips on her neck, but both were delicious. And she had no idea how she was supposed to keep quiet.

“What would happen if she found me?” she asked. “Would she ask you to leave?”

He shrugged. “No idea. It wouldn’t be the worst thing. We did just sign the lease for a new house.”

Georgie forced herself to be serious, if only for a moment. “It won’t be ready for occupancy for at least a week. And as much as I would love to have you with me at Scotsby, you can’t be riding back and forth every day. You’d be exhausted.”

Nicholas gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Then we’ll just have to be extra quiet so I don’t get caught.”

“Well, yes,” Georgie said. But now she was concerned. It was only for one more week, but Nicholas needed this room. “Surely Mrs. McGreevey would understand.”

Nicholas groaned. “Why are we talking about Mrs. McGreevey?”

“Because I don’t want you thrown out of your rooms.”

“I won’t be,” he said, “because we’re going to be so very, very quiet.”

Georgie sucked in her breath. His voice was hot and seductive, and she felt herself melting into his embrace.

“Can you do it?” he murmured. He squeezed her thigh in a way they’d both learned she loved, his thumb skating dangerously close to her womanhood.

“Do what?”

“Keep quiet.”

“No,” she said frankly.

“Pity.” His fingers went still. “I’ll have to stop.”

She grabbed his hand. “Don’t you dare.”

“But you’re so noisy.” He shook his head with mock resignation. “What am I to do?”

Georgie laid a bold hand on his member. Over his clothes, but he’d get the idea. “What am I to do?”

“Minx,” he growled.

She squeezed. “Can you be quiet?”

He quirked a brow. “I can if you can.”

She’d never been able to raise a single brow, so she did a silly almost-wink. “Well, I can if you can.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and Georgie thought it a wonder she did not burst into flame. Or laughter. Then he stood.