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Chapter 19:- 19
If he were to be truthful to himself, Gabriel would admit to a certain curiosity about the place that Athena Willoughby called home. Not that it had always been so, of course. When he’d first hired her to teach at the college, he didn’t care where she lived as long as she could get to work on time. But as he got to know her, especially in recent days, the curiosity seeped into his conscience, robbing him of all other thoughts at times. And god help him, he didn’t know why.
The woman was infuriating in the least, always trying his patience with her many “suggestions” on how to improve the course she was teaching, the curriculum, the very school. Good lord, if he let her, she would run completely amok, and he would lose what control he had over the situation – or her. Not that one could truly control Miss Willoughby, as it were. She was a free spirit – which made the place she called home something of a surprise.
It was like her own little corner of the Regency with the old-fashioned furnishings and the choice of fabrics for the upholstery and draperies. Any minute now, he half expected the Bennett sisters to come gamboling in from the other room to laugh and gossip over a basket of hair ribbons while their father kept to himself in the study and their mother fretted over the impossibility of marrying off five daughters without a substantial dowry. Well, he thought with a shrewd glance in her direction, he certainly knew which Bennett sister Athena favored.
“Here,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, “let’s set this down here.” She stopped in the middle of the living room between the sofa and a pair of chairs. “This is as good a place as any, I suppose.”
Gabriel tried to resist the urge to look as they lowered the trunk to the throw carpet, but it was just impossible not to when it was right there – Damn, he was sinking to some low depths of late. Ever since he met that gossip at the club and Miss Willoughby put on that dress that shifted in delightful ways whenever she bent forward. He really should talk to her about its appropriateness for the work place. The last thing he needed was for her students to be having the lustful thoughts he was – No! He was not having lustful thoughts about Athena Willoughby, of all people. It was just a hangover from his reaction to the woman at the bar. Whom he should not be having lustful thoughts about, either. She was not, after all, the type of woman he could see himself taking to a family holiday. But Miss Willoughby, on the other hand…
“Are you all right, Mr. Sommersby?” Athena asked in concern as she rose from the trunk. “You look a little pale. Should I get you something to drink?”
“I’m from England, Athena,” he reminded. “I always look pale.”
“You’re really moving right in on that first name thing, aren’t you?”
“Why? Does it bother you?”
She took a step backward, as if to put some more distance between them. “It just…makes things a little more personal,” she whispered. “You know?”
He took a step forward, around the trunk, allowed that smile to lift his lips – the one he now knew, by her own admission, bothered her. “Oh, I know,” he murmured, the smile mixing with his voice to create a lethal combination for her. “Athena.”
If he were to be truthful to himself, Gabriel would admit to a certain curiosity about the place that Athena Willoughby called home. Not that it had always been so, of course. When he’d first hired her to teach at the college, he didn’t care where she lived as long as she could get to work on time. But as he got to know her, especially in recent days, the curiosity seeped into his conscience, robbing him of all other thoughts at times. And god help him, he didn’t know why.
The woman was infuriating in the least, always trying his patience with her many “suggestions” on how to improve the course she was teaching, the curriculum, the very school. Good lord, if he let her, she would run completely amok, and he would lose what control he had over the situation – or her. Not that one could truly control Miss Willoughby, as it were. She was a free spirit – which made the place she called home something of a surprise.
It was like her own little corner of the Regency with the old-fashioned furnishings and the choice of fabrics for the upholstery and draperies. Any minute now, he half expected the Bennett sisters to come gamboling in from the other room to laugh and gossip over a basket of hair ribbons while their father kept to himself in the study and their mother fretted over the impossibility of marrying off five daughters without a substantial dowry. Well, he thought with a shrewd glance in her direction, he certainly knew which Bennett sister Athena favored.
“Here,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, “let’s set this down here.” She stopped in the middle of the living room between the sofa and a pair of chairs. “This is as good a place as any, I suppose.”
Gabriel tried to resist the urge to look as they lowered the trunk to the throw carpet, but it was just impossible not to when it was right there – Damn, he was sinking to some low depths of late. Ever since he met that gossip at the club and Miss Willoughby put on that dress that shifted in delightful ways whenever she bent forward. He really should talk to her about its appropriateness for the work place. The last thing he needed was for her students to be having the lustful thoughts he was – No! He was not having lustful thoughts about Athena Willoughby, of all people. It was just a hangover from his reaction to the woman at the bar. Whom he should not be having lustful thoughts about, either. She was not, after all, the type of woman he could see himself taking to a family holiday. But Miss Willoughby, on the other hand…
“Are you all right, Mr. Sommersby?” Athena asked in concern as she rose from the trunk. “You look a little pale. Should I get you something to drink?”
“I’m from England, Athena,” he reminded. “I always look pale.”
“You’re really moving right in on that first name thing, aren’t you?”
“Why? Does it bother you?”
She took a step backward, as if to put some more distance between them. “It just…makes things a little more personal,” she whispered. “You know?”
He took a step forward, around the trunk, allowed that smile to lift his lips – the one he now knew, by her own admission, bothered her. “Oh, I know,” he murmured, the smile mixing with his voice to create a lethal combination for her. “Athena.”
