A Dangerous Expectation (The Gentlemen Next Door) by Cecilia Gray Page B

library. The roaring flames licked at a brick fireplace and cast amber shadows on rows and rows of books. Neither she nor Chastity read for enjoyment—they’d learned to read late in life—but she loved the idea of a million stories tucked away in these pages waiting to be discovered.
    Perhaps she would see to Lady Chesterley here instead of the sitting room. It was already warm, after all. She approached the fire, pulling off her gloves by their fingertips, and knelt before the open hearth so the warmth might lave her skin.
    With a contented sigh she stood and turned.
    Her heart squeezed as she caught sight of him—a man with tawny hair and golden eyes, open and curious and fixed on her—lying on the couch.
    Unsuitable thoughts, indeed.
     
    * * *
     
    Gray Abernathy was a man of meager expectations—as the estranged youngest son of an impoverished duke, very little was expected of him in return. Gray had no money, little connection besides his family, and no possibility of improving his station without marriage to an heiress.
    Thus Gray had no intention of ever improving his station.
    He wasn’t above earning his keep. He eked out a meager existence as a permanent houseguest to one family or another, compliments of his pretty face and even prettier manners. His good humor was his only currency and he was fortunate it came easily and had no shortage.
    He didn’t expect to be gifted with anything—not even in his fantasies—so he was stunned by the sight of this woman.
    He’d fallen asleep on the sofa after having had too much to drink while pondering where to move, as his stay was due to end in a week. But could too much drink be responsible for the vision that stood before the fireplace?
    She was stunning, with sleek blond hair and catlike green eyes. He felt her stare like a physical spear piercing his chest. There was no guile there, no flirtation. Only direct, constant contact.
    His fantasy seemed mute, and he was driven by a desire to hear her voice. He stood, surprised by his steadiness. Enough drink to spur a fantasy like this should have had him staggering on his feet.
    "You would think I would have named you in my dream," he mused as he realized he didn’t know what to call her. He closed the distance between them, waiting for her to dissipate before his very eyes.
    Instead, she gulped and her gaze darted to his chest and back to his eyes. He realized his shirt was unbuttoned to the waist—he recalled the buttons ripping away when he’d yanked off his imprisoning cravat earlier in the night.
    He sensed her trembling and felt desire knot in his chest. He was now worried he would wake or blink his eyes and she’d fade to nothing and no amount of drink would bring her back. He had to hear her voice before she disappeared. Had to know her name.
    "Your name?"
    Her lips parted, as though she were parched, but there was no sound—almost as if she were swallowing back her words.
    Gray hand cupped her cheek and he heard her swift intake of breath, felt the brush of her ragged exhale against the tender skin at his wrist. Was it possible to feel so keenly in a vision? He drew his thumb under her chin.
    She felt real enough—her skin so soft and even a little chilled.
    He inhaled—he could smell her. He’d expected something cloying and sweet, but instead, she smelled like sea air and timber, like open oceans.
    An idea drove its way through his fogged mind as he began to wake, to draw into full consciousness.
    This woman was no vision of strong drink. But that was impossible—how could a woman, especially one as perfect as she, have found herself in his library in the dead of night?
    "Are you real?" he asked, half to himself.
    Her whole body shook, but not with desire—no, he realized, it was with agitation. Why would his own fantasy be nervous around him? Perhaps she was cold?
    He turned and grabbed a throw off the sofa to wrap around her shoulders. She clutched the fabric at her neck. Her clear green eyes