Read Online Nothing But Time by Angeline Fortin - Free Book Online Page A

remembering to turn the knob to allow more light.  Satisfied, she held it aloft in the darkness illuminating the bookshelves.  Kate tried to remember how the books were catalogued because it had seemed that they were in some order.  But what to read?  The English Lit course she’d studied during her freshman year seemed far away as she tried to recall some popular English novelists.  Sure, there was H. G. Wells, but that poor boy hadn’t gotten old enough to write any of his books yet and might not ever after David ’s tutelage. 
    “Let’s see,” she murmured to herself.  “Jules Verne?  I doubt that’s out yet and it would probably be all in French if it hasn’t been translated yet .  Dumas is probably out but same problem .  Let me think…  Robert Louis Stevenson, he was big.”  She sc ann e d the shelves but couldn’t find anything by that author.  “Ugh, who would have written by now?  Oh, I know!  Jane Austen would have.  Austen, Austen ….where are you Austen ?”
    “Lower and to your left , I believe . ” A deep male voice broke through her wonderings and Kate spun about to find the earl le aning casually against the door jam b .  A squeal of surprise escaped Kate and she jumped back , nearly dropping th e oil lamp .  She saved it though her hand was still shaking and she feared that she mi ght burn the whole place down if she dropped it.  The earl apparently felt the same concern as he rushed forward in long strides to remove it from her trembling hand and place it on the desk.
    “ Oh geez!” Kate swore as he neared , backing herself against the shelves , his size and strength overwhelming h er.  He was certainly a dominant guy, she thought.  Very lordly, aristocratic .  T hough she’d never known those qualities in anyone else , they were easily recognizable .  Entitled might best describe it, but what could you expect from a guy who ow ned everything around him?   Wondering what to do, Kate bobbed an awkward imitation of the curtsey she’d seen the other girls make and had half-hearted ly attempted for Hendricks.  It was wobbly though and the earl’ s firm hand saved her from making an even bigger fool of herself by falling to the floor.
    “It doesn’t seem that you’ve had much practice at that.”  His face and voice were serious as they had been that afternoon but Kate somehow got the impression he was laughing at her.
    “I haven’t.”
    “You’re American,” he said in surprise.  “Your voice was so low before I didn’t notice.”
    “I am.”  Kate stared up into the earl’s face.  It never occurred to her that she should cast her gaze away from him, as any good servant would do.  She was already well aware that she wasn’t the best at true subservience and had really never been put in a situation where it was expected of her.  In her line of work, employers valued a certain independent , go-get-it attitude.  Instead, she studied him much as he studied her , taking in the details that her distant assessment had missed before . 
    His eyes were brigh t, crystalline blue under thick , light brown brows.  There were creases like parentheses framing his mouth.  More winged out from the corners of his eyes making her think that she was perhaps wrong about his ability to show humor.  Or it might be that he merely squinted a lot.  Overall though, he was even more handsome up close, so close she could see the day’s growth of whiskers r oughening his cheek , sweeping across his jaw and chin before arching up to touch the bottom of his full lower lip.  Kate was tempted to chaf e her palm against those whiskers, to follow the path up to that tempting lip .
    Unlike the austere appearance he’d presented that morning with every button done up and his tie neat and tidy, the earl look pleasantly relaxed now, his tie gone, his coat and waistcoat hanging open. She’d caught sight of the hollow of his throat ever so briefly before those magnetic blue eyes