“I sent him back to London.”
She relaxed visibly. “Oh. Good. I shouldn't like anyone to see me in this state.”
“Mmm, yes. Of course, if MacDougal were here we could send him out for food.”
Victoria's stomach growled loudly in response.
Robert shot her a sideways glance. “Hungry?”
“Oh, just a little,” she said, patently lying.
“Still angry with me?”
“Oh, just a little,” she said in the same tone.
He laughed. “I never intended to starve you, you know.”
“No, I'm sure ravishment was at the top of your agenda.”
“Marriage was my primary goal, as you well know.”
“Hmmph.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Surely you don't doubt my intentions.”
She sighed. “No, I don't doubt you. You have been most enthusiastic.”
There was a long silence. Robert watched her as she set her mug down on the bedside table and rubbed her hands together. “You're still cold, aren't you?” he asked.
She nodded, pulling her legs toward her body to conserve her heat.
“Get into the bed,” he said.
Her head swiveled slowly in his direction. “Surely you jest.”
“We will both be warmer if we pool the heat from our bodies.”
To his surprise, she laughed. “I had no idea you'd grown so creative, Robert.”
“I am not making this up. You know that I studied the sciences extensively at university. The dynamics of heat was one of my favorite subjects.”
“Robert, I refuse to compromise my—”
“Oh, come now, Torie, you couldn't possibly compromise yourself any further.” Wrong thing to say, he decided, once he saw the stricken expression on her face. “What I meant to say,” he continued, “is that if anyone learns you have spent the night here with me, they will assume the worst. It doesn't matter whether or not we behave with propriety. No one will care.”
“I will care.”
“Victoria, I am not going to seduce you. I couldn't even if I tried. My body is so damned cold—trust me, I'm not exactly in optimum working order.”
“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.