Free Once Upon a Dream by Kate Perry Page B

finish your bread.” Jacqueline stood, closing the notebook. “I’ll get it.”
    “If it’s a handsome man, send him my way.”
    She smiled, trying to picture their Franny having a rendezvous with a man in the kitchen. There’d be flour all over.
    Still smiling with the image, she opened the door to a man’s back. There was a worn leather bag at his feet, of fine quality that had cost quite a bit at some point. “May I help you?”
    The man turned around. He had brown hair that needed a cut. His clothes were also very fine, though they were wrinkled and too loose. His mouth was drawn with fatigue, as though it’d been a long time since he’d found sleep, and his face was textured with a good bit of shadow.
    His eyes were most striking though. His eyes were like her daughters’—the telltale Summerhill blue.
    It could only be one person. “Sebastian Tate?”
    He smiled faintly. “By your reaction, I take it my arrival isn’t the most convenient.”
    “That’s not it at all,” she said politely. She stepped aside to let him in. “I just wasn’t expecting you, and we get so few visitors. Please come in.”
    “You didn’t get my letter? I sent one in reply to yours.” He picked up his bag and walked inside, his gaze taking in everything. “Although it’s possible I arrived ahead of it.”
    Obviously. She refrained from commenting on that. “Is your business in London urgent?”
    “You could say that,” he mumbled. He set his bag down and faced her. “You’re exactly how I envisioned.”
    She frowned. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
    “It’s reassuring, I can tell you that.” He smiled. “I really appreciate that you answered my letter. I didn’t think you would. In fact, I expected you to turn me away now.”
    “Do I have reason to turn you away?”
    He shook his head, his gaze earnest. “I’m not here to do any harm to you or your family.” His brow furrowed. “You have family, don’t you?”
    “Seven daughters,” she said. It was her turn to frown. “You didn’t know?”
    “It was a surprise to me that I had any family, even distantly related. The first I heard of any of you was when the lawyer contacted me to say I inherited a title.” He smiled self-deprecatingly. “Can you imagine, me, an earl?”
    She looked at him, his rumpled state, his bag, and it dawned on her. “Did you just arrive from the States?”
    He nodded. “I came directly here. I don’t even have a place to stay yet.”
    Why? She shook her head, wanting to ask but too polite to. “You must be completely exhausted, and perhaps famished?”
    “I am hungry,” he admitted.
    She nodded. “Leave your things here and follow me.”
    She led the way to the kitchen, feeling him behind her. Curious, that he’d come here before checking into a hotel. She glanced at him over her shoulder. He didn’t have the look of someone who lacked funds.
    Something wasn’t right with him. Not that something was wrong, or that he was questionable, but he was troubled. If she had to give him a description, she’d have called him lost .
    On impulse, she turned around. “You’ll stay here with us, of course.”
    He frowned. “I will?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you sure? You don’t know me.”
    She arched her brow. “Isn’t that the point of you visiting?”
    “Touché.” He smiled tiredly. “You’re rather commanding, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, I am.” She smiled and took his arm. “You’ll find we’re a household of commanding women.”
    “I feel like I’m being warned,” he murmured.
    “You must be wise then.” She led him into the kitchen.
    Fran stopped rolling her dough, a questioning look on her face. “Aren’t you clever, Lady Jacs? I didn’t think you’d bring me a real man.”
    Her old friend wasn’t going to be pleased when she knew who the man was. “Fran, this is Sebastian Tate.”
    Her old friend gasped. “The American.”
    Sebastian smiled wearily. “I see my reputation precedes