“But it’s Sunday. Can’t I have Sunday off?”
Anne laughed. At least she wasn’t always being quite so uptight as she’d been when she first arrived - except when James was there, of course.
“You have already had a lie-in, Toni. It’s eight-thirty.”
“That’s not much extra,” I muttered into the pillow.
“Well, Sundays wouldn’t ever be any more of a lie-in when you’re in England, Toni. You will be expected to attend the local church each week.”
I sighed. This learning to be a lady was a bit of a pain. I’d been here nearly a week now, and I was so tired what with all the emotion. To be honest, the hardest part for me was the proximity to James. God, I hoped that man didn’t know how I felt about him.
I only needed to be in the same room as he was to be a mass of arousal and nerves. But I had no idea how he felt about me. The sex was fantastic, there was lots of it, although I always seemed to want more. But James was not the gentle, loving man I’d always hoped I’d marry. It was as if I was only a temporary part of his life, as if there was something he wasn’t telling me.
Of course, he’d chosen me based on my ancestry, had made up his mind that I would be his Countess before he’d even met me. Perhaps he was having a hard time learning to love me. I’d had to hide the fact that I loved him from the minute I’d felt his presence back in the diner.
Even more so since I’d been going into work with him. For the last few days he’d been taciturn and cool as I went through to suite five.
“Did you hear what I said, Miss Antonia?”
Oh crap! Anne had reverted to calling me Antonia. What had I missed while I was dreaming about James?
“Sorry, Anne. What did you say?”
“I said that Mr. James is expecting you downstairs for breakfast shortly. You will have to shower quickly if you don’t want to keep him waiting.”
I rolled over, and sat up, stretching. God, the bed was so damn comfortable it was really hard to think of getting up. “I tell you what, Anne. You can tell James that I’ve heard what you’ve said, but that I want to have a longer sleep today. And you can tell him that I’ve told you not to disturb me again this morning.” I grinned at her, thinking that would sort everything out.
She was good at staying expressionless, but I thought I saw a hint of surprise behind her eyes.
“Yes, Miss Antonia.” She nodded and left the room.
I lay back down and rolled over, wrapping myself in the comforter. These sheets were a dream, so smooth I could only wish for skin so perfect. I smiled contentedly, and snuggled down. I wasn’t sleepy anymore, which was a shame, but I could think about things in peace and comfort.
I thought about my app. Paul was amazing. In just the first afternoon, he’d got a sample interface, which was exactly how I’d imagined it would look, and since then, although he blinked a few times when I told him the sort of questions I needed to be listed, he was making good inroads into the way the thing would work. It was fun working with him. He wasn’t much older than me, and much more relaxed than James.
James. My thoughts always went back to him. I pictured him in my mind, looking at me, his serious face, his lean body, and I felt my breathing hitch.
I couldn’t work out why we weren’t spending the nights together. We had mind-blowing sex, we were going to get married. So why weren’t we sharing a bed? Still, I had a couple of hours now to fantasize that he was here. I sighed and mentally stripped him, feeling a slippery wetness between my thighs. I’d never been so attracted to anyone before, and the actual sex hadn’t put me off at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I dropped my hand towards my mound, pushing aside the silky negligee, and let my finger push in and find my clit. As I pressed a little harder, I heard a soft knock at the door.
I jerked back in shock. God! It wouldn’t be James, would it? I’d told Anne not to disturb me, so who could it be?
“Come in?” I called nervously, my heart in my throat, pulling the comforter up around my neck. When I saw Anne come into the room, I gave a sigh of relief and lay back with a thump on the pillows.
“You gave me such a fright, Anne. I thought I told you not to disturb me?”
“Yes, Miss Antonia. But Mr. James asked me to come and request that you reconsider your decision.”
I looked over at her. There was a warning in her eyes. I frowned. What on Earth was there to be worried about? I rolled back over, closing my eyes and cocooning myself in the comforter.
“No, I don’t think so, Anne.”
“Very well, Miss Antonia.” And I heard the door close.