page7 (1/2)

Outside in the hall she came to a halt She really didn’t knohat to do next Should she seek out Raoul and press him for more explanation over his behavior earlier, or si had happened? She worried at her lower lip with her teeth Until she’d seen hiain today she would have done the former of the tithout question But after that stilted, almost hostile, encounter, she was reluctant to muddy the waters between them any more than they already were

She still needed to unpack her things, so she went into the master bedroom where she’d put her suitcase earlier on The door to the walk-in wardrobe stood open and she gravitated toward it One side was coers, the other still filled o Her heart stuttered in her chest as she reached out and touched a few of the things hanging there, as a hint of Bree’s favorite scent wafted out

That awful sense of e of deep sy his away She stepped out of the wardrobe and closed the door behind her, turning instead to the native riainst one wall The draere es, then shoved her now-redundant case into the wardrobe without looking again at the silentthere

A knock at her door make her start

“Yes?” she called out

The door opened and Raoul filled the fra to life Her body hummed with that al over hi just a little too loosely on his rangy frame It was hard to believe he was the saain, he wasn’t, was he? He’d been through hell and she needed to remember that as she tackled her new role To perhaps be a little less judgmental

For all the differences—fro—in his appearance and in histhe instant effect he had on her equilibrium Even now she could feel her heart beat that little bit faster, her breathing becoernails into her palms in an attempt to distract herself from her reaction to him

“I just wanted to make sure you’d settled in okay,” he said stiffly, not quiteher eyes

She nodded, unsure of what to say about Bree’s things Or even if she should say anything about them at all

“The baby’s quiet now Is she all right?”

“Ruby’s down for the night Catherine tells h until about six-thirty, or seven, so as long as she isn’t unsettled by sleeping soain until ”

“How do you know she’s okay? You’re not with her right now”