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This time when he looked at her lips, the corners of his mouth twitched “You have ash on your chin”

Heat rose to her cheeks And all the while she’d i at her for an entirely different reason

“I’d rather have ash on e of her apron to wipe it away “Has it gone?”

“No It’s right there”

Rose rubbed a little harder this time “Surely that’s it”

“Here” He removed a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his coat “Allow me to assist you”

The viscount moved closer and brushed the silk softly across her chin

Heavens above Every nerve in her body sparked to life She couldn’t look at his face and instead focused on the picture behind hiht The luer by the second The heady scent of his cologne rew so shallow he must have noticed

She cleared her throat

Lord Farleigh stilled and then juh the tails of his coat were on fire “There One cannot walk about the house with dirt on their chin” His sharp tone was so opposed to the care he’d shown but a moment earlier

“I thank you for your assistance, my lord” Oh, her voice sounded fractured, so affected by these bizarre sensations rippling through her

Still kneeling in front of the fire, Rose turned back to the hearth and brushed the grate once

more She heard him retreat, knew the moment he sat back in his chair and dipped the nib of his pen into the glass ink pot

Channelling the strength of twothe fire Lord Farleigh never spoke again, but the harsh scratching of the nib on paper conveyed either annoyance or frustration

With the task coood parlour lance Only when safely out of the rooain