Free The Marker by Meggan Connors Page B

likes of him, besides.”
    “Oh, Mrs. Ferguson, not you, too?” Lexie asked with a laugh.
    The older woman smiled. “I might be old enough to be his mother, but I’m neither blind nor dead. I’m well aware our employer is an attractive man. Twenty years ago, he’d have given my Seamus a run for his money.”
    Lexie laughed at the idea of Nicholas courting his chubby, fifty-something housekeeper. “I’m sure you’d be a scorching couple, Mrs. Ferguson.” The older woman snorted a laugh and Lexie turned back to the mirror. “You’ve outdone yourself with me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.”
    “Hardly had to do anything. You’re a beautiful woman.” Mrs. Ferguson gave Lexie an affectionate pat on the shoulder. “I can see why Mr. Wetherby is besotted with ye.”
    Her heart gave an excited lurch, but Lexie waved her hand dismissively. “He’s not besotted with me,” she scoffed.
    “Whatever you say, dear.”
    “Oh, for goodness sake. He’s only interested because no one’s ever told him ‘no’ before.”
    Mrs. Ferguson chuckled like a proud mother hen. “True enough—he rarely gets turned down. But there’s something in his eyes when he looks at ye. It’s not the same with ye as it is with the other girls.” As Mrs. Ferguson said the words, Lexie bit her lip to refrain from asking just how she was different. She didn’t want to know.
    Good God, she really wanted to know.
    Reading her face as easily as Lexie read her books, Mrs. Ferguson said, “Let’s just say he’s interested, dear, and leave it at that. I know he’s got a bad reputation, but he really is a good man. He just doesn’t let anyone see it much. You could do worse.”
    Mrs. Ferguson was right—she could do worse. In fact, in roughly ten months, she would be doing worse. So much worse.
    Lexie knew Nicholas was interested. She wished he wasn’t. If he weren’t, he’d ignore her, and she’d pine for him from afar, finish up her time here, and get married. If he weren’t interested, he wouldn’t spend so much of his free time attempting to cajole her into speaking to him again, and she wouldn’t enjoy her time here nearly as much as she did. She couldn’t relent, because that was precisely what she wanted to do—give in and allow the overwhelming attraction to take over. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted his fingers brushing against her skin. He fascinated her in a way no one else ever had.
    She needed to remember she would never, could never, be his. That to relent would be to risk losing her heart, for there was no middle ground when it came to Nicholas. She and Nicholas operated in the extremes: wildly passionate or coldly distant.
    She was not, nor ever would be, a risk-taker. After all, she’d seen what taking risks had done to her father.
    With a derisive, unladylike snort, Lexie asked, “You’re not trying to get us together, are you? He’s a notorious womanizer. He’s not interested in anything serious, and no self-respecting woman would fall for his tricks.”
    “Och, if that were true, he wouldn’t be taking ye to the Governor’s Ball tonight. This is no trick. Besides, ye know you’re going to have to talk to him sometime. Don’t ye think you’ve made your point and punished the man enough?”
    Lexie knew better. If she opened her mouth to talk to him, he would see it as a capitulation. If she talked to him now, where would she stop? Would she stop with simple talk? If he kissed her, would she be able to stop with kissing? Fact was, nothing and no one had ever stirred her blood quite like he did, and giving in to the smallest temptation—even just to utter a few words—would be a risk Lexie was unwilling to take. There was so much at stake. If she allowed him anything, she would fall for him. She couldn’t engage her heart in anything. If she did, how would she ever regain it?
    Unfortunately, she could so easily fall for someone like Nicholas.
    Releasing another gusty sigh,