“Claire, what are you doing?”
She spun around so quickly that the book fell from her hands and the spine split as it landed on the hard floor. “You startled me, Simon!” Placing the candle on the table, Claire dropped to her knees and gathered the broken book into her hands carefully. “I will have it fixed. Your friend need not know.”
Large, warm hands wrapped around hers as she stood. He took the book from her and then turned her to face him. “It’s a book on gardening, Claire. I’m sure no one is going to be concerned if it is a bit damaged.”
His chest was bare, and Claire could feel the heat from it against her hands as he moved closer.
“I should have been more careful.” She couldn’t look at him. She was too tired, her emotions were in turmoil, and he was nearly naked. She had never seen a man’s chest before.
“Why are you not asleep?”
“Because I don’t.”
“You don’t sleep?”
“Must we have this conversation now? You should return to your bed and let me read up on how to nurture my seedlings.”
“I’m sure your seedlings will be fine, Claire. Now tell me what you mean by, ‘I don’t sleep.’“
“It’s really quite a simple concept to grasp. I don’t sleep well,” Claire snapped, and then she tried to step away from him, but he simply slipped his big arms around her and held her still.
“Let me go, please.”
“Why don’t you sleep well?” He ignored her request.
She dropped her head back and looked up at him. His hair stood on end, and his eyes were sleepy, and he looked dangerous and somehow more disturbing than he did when he was the immaculately attired gentleman she knew. His chest was broad and muscled, and if she just took a step forward, she could fall on it, as Lady Pepper had. Dear god, she needed to move away quickly. “Because I can’t.” Claire did not like the anxiety in her tone.
“How long have you not slept well for?”
“It feels like forever,” Claire said, feeling her resistance flee as she thought of all those nights that had stretched long and lonely before her. “And I’m so tired, Simon.”
“I know, sweetheart. I can see that you are.”
“Don’t…please.”
“Don’t please what?” His hand now cupped her cheek, and his thumb was rubbing the skin. Claire was sure an imprint would be there forever.
“Don’t call me that. Don’t be nice to me, because I am not quite myself tonight.”
“You obviously have a very good reason to not be yourself, Claire. Will you let me help you go to sleep?”
She shook her head. “I have tried many things, Simon, and still I only snatch an hour or two during the night. Plimley has made many suggestions, but none of them have worked.”
“Plimley knows?”
Claire nodded again. “Plimley is not like a normal butler.”
“He certainly doesn’t look like one.”
“He’s always been there for me.”
His thumb caressed her cheek again. “I’m glad he was there for you, Claire.” She heard the unspoken question in his voice. Simon wanted to know why her butler had been there for her, yet her family had not. She was relieved when he chose to ask her something else. “When did this sleeplessness start?”
This was a pointless conversation to be having. After all, Simon could do nothing for her. He just needed to leave her alone with the book. Soon it would put her to sleep for a few hours so that in the morning she could cope. “I’m quite all right, my lord, really. This is what I’m used to, and I should let you go back to your bed.”
“So you can walk the halls? I think not.”
“Simon!” Claire struggled as he swung her up into his arms and stalked back to the stairs and started to climb. “What are you doing?”
“You’re too tired to make rational decisions, so I’m making them for you.”
“I’m never irrational.”
“How controlled you are then, Miss Belmont, as I’m frequently irrational.”
He carried her to the room he had recently left and climbed onto the bed with her still in his arms. He then lay back against the pillows.
“Simon–”
“What happened to start the sleeplessness, Claire? Talk to me.”
“I can’t sit here like this, in your arms.” Nevertheless she wanted to, Claire realized. She wanted him to look after her, and that was foolish. She was strong and needed no one, least of all him.
“Yes you can, and remember, Claire, I’m bigger and stronger than you, and have had lots of sleep, so I have the upper hand. Now relax and tell me when this sleeplessness began.” He pulled her down on top of him so she lay on her side in his lap with her legs beside him on the bed. One of his hands then pressed her head into his chest as he had in the carriage.