Mariah frowned. That wasn't terribly romantic. It wasn't that she wanted him to be romantic, of course. But still.
"Oh, well. Sorry," she answered lamely, not really sure what to say in the face of a list of her faults.
"You must be wondering why I care in that case, hmm?" he asked, a sly smile on his mouth.
Maria was feeling decidedly miffed and her ego was very much bruised.
"I don't care to know why you care," she answered snippily, confusing even herself with the convoluted statement and apparently amusing him greatly.
"Do you know, I thought that these weeks leading up to Christmas would be quiet and uneventful? I couldn't have been more wrong."
Mariah sighed and tried to calm her rising temper.
"Really, Mr. Haverton if my presence is so irritating and, and bewildering—"
"And frustrating," he supplied helpfully.
"And frustrating," she said with a glare, "then I rather wonder at you insisting that I stay. I appreciate that I'm not quiet but once again, I feel I must point out you sought me out. Not the other way around."
"Miss Bolton, please do not misunderstand. Your presence is all of those things but that is not to say that I do not want you here. You are irritating because you do not let me sulk as I should like. You are bewildering because, well, you're you."
This earned another scowl. But he ignored it.
"And you are frustrating because whether I'm right here beside you or on the other side of the house, or even the other side of the village, I cannot stop thinking about doing this."
She knew it was coming and she wanted it more than she wanted her next breath.
As soon as his strong arms wrapped round her, she was lost.
His kiss was just as powerful as yesterday's. Perhaps even more so.
Two days. She had known him only two days and had been kissed as many times by him.
She was a shameless wanton.
And she didn't care a jot.
The sound of approaching footsteps penetrated the fog of Mariah's brain but it did not stop her from wrapping her arms round his neck, running her fingers through his silky hair as she had longed to do every time she saw him do it. Apparently though, he was either a lot less affected by their kiss, or he was infinitely more sensible than she for he gently prised her fingers from his person and set her away from him.
Mariah felt the loss of contact and instinctively moved toward him but he stumbled back, issuing an oath as he went.
"Good God woman, you're as tempting as sin itself."
Mariah smiled at his compliment and took another step toward him but he took another back.
"Stay where you are," he bellowed, almost making her jump out of her skin.
Why was he shouting at her? Surely he wasn't angry. He had kissed her, after all.
"I'm sorry, I just – if you come near me I'm not going to be able to stop and somebody is coming."
Mariah smiled again. All the longing she felt for him just increased with his words.
"For God's sake Mariah, don't look at me like that," he hissed and she blinked in surprise. He had used her given name and it did funny things to her stomach to hear it on his lips.
"Like what?"
"Like you want my hands on you as much as I do," he said bluntly.
Good heavens. The man was going to have her heart bursting clean out of her.
A tap on the door signalled the arrival of Fernshaw.
"Sir," he said, his face totally expressionless, "the room has been prepared."
"Thank you, Fernshaw," Mr. Haverton sounded remarkably calm given what had just transpired.
Without another word, the old butler bowed and left, rather tellingly leaving the door open behind him.
Mr. Haverton smiled wickedly. "It seems you have a protector in Fernshaw, my dear."
"I do?"
"Leaving the door open," he explained, nodding towards it, "no doubt to ensure that I don't attack you where you stand."
"He should mind his own business," Mariah grumbled unthinkingly, wanting more than anything to feel his hands on her again.
His bark of laughter drew a rueful smile from her own lips.
"My housekeeper Mrs. Jones doesn't arrive until the end of next week, so in her absence I'll have one of the maids show you to your room. I would offer to do so myself but I don't think that's very safe," he said bluntly, eliciting a gasp of completely inappropriate excitement from her. "Besides, I think I need some time alone to, er, recover from our activities."
Mariah had no idea what he meant but the mention of their "activities" was enough to heat her blood all over again.
"Will you join me for dinner?" he asked, all politeness.
"Well, I have to really, don't I?" she answered in that unthinking way again.
"You flatterer, you."
She ignored him.
"My mother will be beside herself with worry," Mariah said, secretly thrilled at the thoughts of staying here with him but not wanting to show it.
"As soon as it is safe I will send word," he said gently, "but nobody would expect you to travel in that."
"You haven't met my mother," Mariah mumbled.
At that moment the maid arrived to escort Mariah to a guest room.