The Reason a Piano Tuner Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Bath

The dressing room had a fire, a copper tub as long as a boat, and steam standing in the air.

I came in at nine with a cake of lavender soap from the housekeeper's shelf.

I had on my nightgown and my shawl, and nothing underneath but a lot of nerve.

Everard was already in the water.

He sat with his arms along the rim and his head tipped back, and the scar showed pale in the firelight.

He opened his eyes when I shut the door.

"You brought the soap."

"I said I would."

"I did not think you would."

"I'm a woman of my word."

"You are the only woman I know who is."

I put the soap on the stool beside the tub.

Then I slipped off the shawl, and the gown, and let them fall.

I'd stood bare in front of him twice before, and my skin still went hot from my throat to my knees.

He looked at me with his whole face.

"Come here," he said, very quietly.

"No."

His eyebrows rose.

"You get out," I said. "I want to do this the other way round."

"Which way is that?"

"I want to sit on the edge, and you stay in the water."

He did not answer.

He only stood, streaming, and stepped to the far end of the tub so that I could climb up onto the broad rim.

It was warm and wet under me, and the copper held the heat.

I sat with my feet in the water and my hands on either side.

He knelt in the tub in front of me, with the water at his waist.

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