She was tired, stressed—he could tell by the subtle sag of her shoulders, and the way she kept rubbing her eyes. Brody had never seen Angelica pick at her face and retreat into herself, but, then again, he’d never seen her in a room full of highly-strung, blabbering people.
His family could be overbearing. Intimidating. Mother was icy, even on her best days, and Mary Rose would gladly trample anybody to remain the center of attention. Marcus kept to himself, and Father was mostly absent. Brody hovered somewhere in the middle of it all, and understood how a woman like Angelica—accustomed to living in quiet solitude—could be cowed.
They were a lot to take in all at once. Perhaps she needed a rest.
He touched her arm, drawing her attention away from the dog. “Would you like me to show you to your room, Angelica?”
“Yes, thank you. That would be lovely.”
They stood, and she took his arm. He knew she hated being led around, but there was nothing for it. Until she learned the place, she would have to put her pride away, and rely on his guidance.
Brody helped her navigate the furniture and the dog, who followed at her feet. She’d made one friend, at least. With Clarence nipping at her heels, she would get no peace. The others watched them in careful silence. Even the servants stared in wide-eyed curiosity as he brought her upstairs.
No one knew what to make of her. She was beautiful, of course. She was clever, when he could get her to speak. But she was painfully shy, and he didn’t know how she would survive a week in the Neill household. Angelica Grey needed to come out of her shell.
He hadn’t told Mother he was bringing a guest—he so loved to shock the old girl!—but the maids worked quickly. Angelica been given a good room, and her things unpacked and put away.
As he showed her around the room, she touched everything, trying to acclimate herself with the space. She studied the distance from the door to the bed, from the bed to the wardrobe, to the fireplace, the dressing table, and then back again. In time, he hoped she would be comfortable here.
“I thought you could use some time alone,” he said, watching her work.
She paused by the window, pressing her palm to the warmed pane. “I’ve embarrassed you…”
“Not at all! My girl, you were fantastic. Damned Marcus couldn’t take his eyes off you. And Mother, well, don’t worry about her. She needs time to warm up to you, but you’ll thaw her. And Mary Rose—”
“Hates me. I can tell. She hardly had one friendly word to say the entire time.”
“She’s a spoiled child,” he told her. “She pouts when she doesn’t get her way.”
Angelica turned in his direction, her eyes clamped shut. “But it’s her birthday, Brody. She deserves to be spoiled, to be the center of everyone’s attention. I don’t want to take any of that away from her.”
“I have a right to bring you here. This is my home as much as it is hers, and they’ll just have to get used to you.” He crossed the carpet to pull her into his arms. Her back was rigid, braced against his touch. Brody wanted to kiss all of that tension, that nervous apprehension out of her mind and out of her body, but this wasn’t the time for that. “This is difficult for you, I know. I don’t like it any more than you do, but please try. If my family suspects for one minute that you’re here under duress…”
“I’m not under duress. I came willingly. You’re the one who is stuck with me.”
He smiled. Brody was stuck with her, but happily so. She’d been a marvel last night, making love to him like no other woman had ever done. Taking him, and driving him to pleasure until he thought he would die. She was good. He’d be a fool to cast such a lover aside.
Jealousy’s forked tongue licked at the back of his mind, but Brody fought to push it away. Although he loved what she’d done, he hated that another man taught her to do it. That another man had first known the feeling of her hips rising up to meet his. But, if Angelica could look past the fact that he too had been careless and cavalier with his body in the past, then Brody could offer her the same respect.
“You’re my guest for the week. Sleep late, loaf about, and please yourself. All I ask is that, when we’re together, you make an effort to get on with my family.” He kissed her forehead, which seemed to surprise her. “Now I have to go downstairs and be asked a hundred uncomfortable questions about us. I thought I’d spare you that, at least.”
“Thank you.”
He kissed her again, for good measure. She couldn’t be flinching at his touch in front of the others. They’d sniff out her deception in an instant. “If I’m not back before then, I’ll send a maid up to help you dress for dinner. You’ll hear the gong.”
***