Beyond a Doubt

chapter Thirty




Sunlight peeked through her bedroom window. The sound of banging rang in her ears. She placed her arm over her eyes and covered her head with a pillow to block out the annoying sound. All attempts to stifle the noise failed.

Climbing to the side of the bed, Lucy placed her slippers on her feet. She padded down the hallway and pushed on the kitchen door. She gasped.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Wooden panels and planks were scattered around the room. The disassembled cupboard lay in pieces. Bryce sat in the middle of the rubble. A smile rested innocently upon his face.

“I’m building yer cupboard. That way I can go with ye to accomplish yer errands. That is, if ye can give me just a little while to finish up.”

Awed, Lucy skirted the mess. Her foot caught the edge of a panel, which caused her leg to twist. She fell through the air. Bryce reached out and grabbed her.

When she stopped moving, she was sitting on Bryce’s lap.

“Ye are the clumsiest lass I’ve ever seen.”

The words stung. Stiffening her muscles, she attempted to push away, but Bryce held tighter.

“I meant no offense to ye, lass.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now if you will release me, I’ll get out of your way. I wouldn’t want my clumsiness to ruin your project.”

Bryce picked up a strand of her hair and studied it. “How do ye make yer hair so soft?”

Lucy refused to be mollified and shrugged. “Simple. I wash it.”

He placed the strand to his face and sniffed. “How do ye make it smell so good?”

Lucy shifted uncomfortably. “I use scented soap.”

Tugging on the strand, he wrapped it around his finger. When released, it sprang upwards into a perfect ringlet. A smile graced his face. “Yer hair reminds me of chestnuts.”

Lucy gulped. “Is that good?”

“Aye. I like chestnuts.”

Her throat constricted as Bryce continued to favor her with compliments.

“And yer skin! How does it stay so smooth? It’s like the petals of a flower.”

Stumbling over her words, Lucy said, “I use a cream bath every so often.”

Bryce nodded. His large hand cupped her chin, angling it this way and that. “And look at yer face. The model of perfection. A sculptor couldn’t have chiseled one more flawless.”

Heat threatened to explode from her chest. His thumb ran across her bottom lip. “And yer lips. Most women have lips pressed into a thin line, always exhibiting some kind of displeasure, but not ye. Nay. Yer lips have the most curious habit of twitching at the corners in a winsome smile. And they are rosy red in color. Not too plump, not too thin, but just right.”

What was he trying to do? Give her heart failure?

“And yer eyes? Has anyone ever told ye they tilt upward like those from the Orient?”

“Aye. My maternal grandmother hailed from China.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak but instead he inched forward and laid his lips to hers. The kiss started slow and increased in intensity. His hands never strayed from her face no matter how much her body screamed for them to do so.

To get closer, Lucy moved her legs. When she did her foot contacted with one of the boards lying haphazardly around the room. This set off a chain reaction from whence they barely escaped unscathed.

The board bumped another, which bumped another, and like a stack of cards they came crashing down around the couple. Bryce used his hands and his back to protect her until the pieces landed around them and the dust settled. After the excitement of the kiss followed by the close call with the boards, the errands planned for the day were all but forgotten.