“You're still cold?” she asked.
He caught himself just before he smiled. Of course! Victoria wouldn't snuggle in bed with him to warm herself, but she was bighearted enough to do it for his sake. “Freezing,” he said, and then he clattered his teeth together a few times for effect.
“And my crawling into bed will help you get warmer?” She looked dubious.
He nodded, able to keep a sincere expression on his face because he wasn't technically lying. He would be warmer with the heat of another body in the bed beside him.
“And I'll be warmer, too?” She let out a shiver.
His eyes narrowed. “You have been lying to me, haven't you? You're still freezing. You have been running around the house tending to my needs without a thought to your own wellbeing.” He scooted over a few inches, then reached out from under the covers. The blankets slipped, baring his firmly muscled chest.
“Robert!”
His hand closed around her bare foot. “My God!” he exclaimed. “You're colder than I am.”
“It's really just my feet. The floorboards—”
“Now!” he roared.
Victoria scurried under the blankets. Robert's arm wrapped around her and hauled her onto his side of the bed.
“I'm sure this isn't necessary!” Victoria protested.
“Oh, it's necessary.”
Victoria gulped as he pulled her closer. Her back was pressed up against his front, and the only thing between their bare skin was a thin layer of silk. She wasn't entirely certain how she'd ended up in this position. Robert had somehow manipulated her without her even realizing it. “I'm still cold,” she said peevishly.
When he spoke, his words were hot against her ear. “Don't worry. We've all night.”
Victoria elbowed him in the ribs. Hard.
“Ow!” Robert lurched backward and rubbed his midsection. “What was that for?”
“‘We've all night,’” she mimicked. “Really, Robert, you're most insulting. I am doing you a favor by—”
“I know.”
“—lying here next to you, and—” She looked up. “What did you say?”
“I said, ‘I know.’ You are doing me a wondrous favor. I am feeling warmer already.”
That took some of the wind out of her sails, and all she could think to say was, “Grmmph.” Not, she realized, her wittiest hour.
“Your feet, however, are still icicles.”
Victoria grimaced. “They do radiate the cold, don't they?”
“One cannot radiate cold,” he said, suddenly sounding very academic. “Cold objects suck in heat from the surrounding air, which makes it feel as if they are radiating cold, but in actuality one can only radiate heat.”
“Oh,” Victoria said, mostly just so that he would think she was listening.
“It's a common misconception.”
That appeared to be the end of the conversation, which left Victoria right where she had started—lying in bed next to a man who was not wearing any clothing. And she in her scandalously low-cut nightgown—it was quite beyond anything. Victoria tried to pull herself at least a few inches away from him, but his arm, while cold, seemed admirably strong. Robert clearly had no intention of letting her scoot to the other side of the bed.
Victoria ground her teeth together so hard she thought her jaw might snap. “I am going to sleep,” she declared firmly, then shut her eyes.
“Really?” Robert drawled, and it was clear from the tone of his voice that he didn't think she would be able to.
“Really,” she said, eyes still closed. She doubted she'd fall asleep anytime soon, but she'd always been really good at faking it. “Good night.”
Twenty minutes later Robert looked down at her in surprise. Her eyelashes rested lightly on her cheeks, and her chest rose and fell in an even, gentle rhythm. “I can't believe she nodded off,” he muttered. He didn't want to relinquish his hold on her, but his arm was falling asleep, so he rolled over with a loud sigh and shut his eyes.
A few inches away, Victoria finally opened her eyes and allowed herself a small smile.
Chapter 18
When Victoria awakened the next morning, there was a naked arm thrown over her shoulder and an equally naked leg draped across her hip. The fact that both limbs were attached to a naked man immediately set her heart racing.
She carefully disentangled herself and climbed out of bed, pulling along a blanket to cover some of the skin the blue nightgown left bare. She'd just made it to the door when she heard Robert stir. Victoria grasped the knob, hoping that she could slip out before he opened his eyes, but before she could even twist her hand, she heard a groggy “Good morning” from behind her.
There was nothing for it but to turn around. “Good morning, Robert.”
“I trust you slept well.”
“Like a baby,” she lied. “If you'll excuse me, I am going to change my clothing.”
He yawned, stretched, and said, “I can't imagine that your dress wasn't ruined yesterday.”
She swallowed, having forgotten the beating her one and only garment had taken the day before. The wind, rain, rocks, and saltwater had rendered it unmendable. Still, it was certainly more appropriate and respectable than what she was wearing now, and she told him so.
“Pity,” he said. “The blue gown looks so fetching on you.”
She snorted and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her. “It is indecent, and I'm sure that is exactly what you intended when you bought it.”
“Actually,” he said thoughtfully, “you fill it out even more delightfully than I'd dreamed.”