Read Online What a Woman Desires by Rachel Brimble - Free Book Online Page B

head on his back, too, but knew well enough she would not lean on him considering the dark cloud under which he left Marksville the night before. He purposely kept Jake at a slow walk, wanting this closeness between him and Monica to last as long as possible. He’d been foolish enough to wake this morning, thinking the night apart had strengthened his resolve and he would be strong enough to accept her as his employer and nothing else.
    Now he was with her, the notion was laughable—but one he must adhere to.
    He needed to play nice and convince her staying at Marksville wouldn’t mean the future she dreaded. If he could do that, he would keep his father’s legacy intact and maybe, one day, his son would take the reins and become a groom to the Danes family as two generations had before him. She had to understand positions like his and Mrs. Seton’s weren’t just jobs, they were a livelihood, a lifestyle, and treasured way of life.
    He’d come out of the stable yard astride Jake, and as soon as he had seen Monica standing alone, her head back and her breasts thrust forward, nothing of his job entered his mind. Only pure, unadulterated attraction had surged through him. The sun glowed on her dark hair like a million dancing lights and, with her hands on her hips, her delicate figure taunted him with forbidden possibility that had lingered in his subconscious forever. Even in mourning, the woman was beautiful.
    She was meant to be his. The tension and care between them had resided for years. The moment he saw her again, it had returned as potent as ever.
    Yet, gallantry had overruled lust, and he’d forced the scowl from his face and the desire from his body. Monica needed him to rely on if she was going to get through burying the master and coming to terms with her mother’s deterioration. He couldn’t falter from the clear and present line between himself, her, and the family....
    To do so would mean certain loss to his family, Mrs. Seton, and half the people in Biddestone who took tenancy with the Danes family. Thomas stared ahead. Monica had to realize her return to the house was not a case of tying up loose ends and disappearing into the heady lights of Bath once more.
    It was a case of prosperity versus poverty for so many.
    She’d come back into a world she left far behind and, whether she realized it or not, she was only known in the village as the privileged girl who’d put herself ahead of her family. Would she take this chance to prove to him and everyone else in the village they were wrong about her?
    He’d painted her in the same vein on the same canvas—until he looked deep into her eyes last night and saw her pain. Something had happened to her over the years she’d lived away. Something he would coax her to reveal so he could attempt to put it right.
    He wanted to see the light in her eyes when she looked at him, wanted to see the same happy face that taunted him on the city’s billboards....
    “Thomas?”
    The soft tone of her voice broke through his reverie and he stiffened. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. More than fine.”
    Satisfaction furled inside and he relaxed. “I’m glad. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to visit in the village? Or shall we go straight to see my parents?”
    “So you’ve told them I’m back?”
    He grimaced. “Ma caught me as I was leaving the house this morning.”
    She laughed. “Caught you? You make it sound as though you were trying to creep out unnoticed.”
    Fields stretched toward the horizon either side of them and Thomas pulled Jake to a gentle stop. “I was.”
    “Why?”
    “Because Ma is little changed since you last saw her.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning she doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.”
    Silence.
    The weight of Monica’s assured curiosity came down between them as her arms slid from his waist. Protectiveness of his privacy roared up inside him as Thomas eased forward to maneuver from the horse. His