She gave Raeni an apologetic look. “Yes?”
“Good. Have something to eat now while I arrange for a coachman to drive you.”
Alice’s eyes went wide again. While she reached for a slice of cake, Raeni gave her the baby back and followed Thomas into the back room. Mr. Miller looked up from his ledger when they entered, but she paid him no heed. “I will agree to this on one condition.”
Thomas turned on her. “You’ll agree to this without any condition. What else are you hiding from me, Raeni? Sleeping in a church? Anything could have happened to you.”
“You’re angry at me?”
“I’m angry at the world—at men who buy people as though they were a sack of flour, at the rich who pass the sick and diseased and do nothing more than put their handkerchiefs to their noses, at the wounded former soldiers begging for money on street corners who fought Napoleon for their country and now cannot work because they have only a stump of a leg. I’m angry.” His eyes softened. “But not at you. Not at your friend. I can help them, and it’s the least I can do.”
Raeni swallowed. He was a good man. She had not really believed such men existed. “Then you will have my thanks, but I cannot put you out of your home. If there aren’t enough rooms to accommodate all of us, I will sleep with Alice or on the floor or—why are you smiling?”
“There is room enough, and you’re right. There’s no reason for me to go. Besides, this arrangement might actually work out well. I haven’t had a chance to discuss the details of the opening celebration with you, and it’s only a week away. You can tell me what arrangements you have made in the hackney.”
Raeni sighed as he left her to find a hackney. As much as she admired the businessman, she liked the man who had kissed her even better. She did not want to impose on him, but when she thought about the advantages of doing so, more time to discuss work matters was not on her list.
More time to kiss him, more chances to wrap her arms about his strong shoulders, more opportunities to accidentally meet in the wee hours of the night when she was wearing nothing but her chemise and he...
She swallowed and put a hand to her heart. She shouldn’t imagine what he wouldn’t be wearing.
“Are you all right, Miss Sawyer?” Mr. Miller called.
“Just fine, sir.” She had better go back to Alice and George. “Everything is fine.”
THOMAS WASN’T CERTAIN how to describe the first few days of having Raeni live at his house. Well, Raeni and Alice and George. There was the annoyance of waking up because a baby was crying, but there was also the pleasure of sitting across the table from Raeni in the morning. For Raeni, he would put up with a baby crying all night, though from the look of Alice, listening to the baby and actually tending the baby were two very different things.
It wasn’t but one day before he told Alice if she left her position ironing he would hire her to work for him. She couldn’t do such demanding work during the day and then be up half the night rocking a baby. And he’d stopped by the place where she worked. It wasn’t safe for a young child.
He had hired her to wash dishes at Bond Street Coffee & Tobacco, but he didn’t really have need of her there. He was thinking of asking if she’d be willing to work for him at his inn in Wapping. He could always use maids there, and the housing in Wapping was more affordable. But he had plenty of space in his town home at the moment, and he was in no hurry to send Raeni’s only friend away.
Raeni herself had made comments about looking for a room to share with Alice, and Thomas realized he was in no hurry to send Raeni away either. He hadn’t spent this much time at his town house since he moved in. He had actually learned the names of his servants and seen all the rooms of the house more than once.
And he and Raeni had stolen kisses more than once. There’d been that night in the corridor when he had been wakened by the baby and gone down to the kitchen for tea. When he’d gone back to his room, she’d been coming out of Alice’s chamber. They’d whispered for a few minutes in the corridor and then he found himself taking her into his arms and kissing her until they were both breathless with desire. His chamber and his bed had been just a few steps away, but he’d sent her to her own bed and spent the few hours before dawn in restless half-slumber.
And then the other afternoon she had asked to borrow a book from his library. Thomas had a vague memory of asking Mr. St. Aulyn of The Hungry Mind book shop to fill his shelves, so he went in with her to see what volumes he owned. Before he knew it, he had pressed her against the bookshelf and was kissing those lovely lips while she ran her hands up and down his back.
And just this morning at breakfast they’d been the only two in the dining room at first. They’d both gone to the sideboard to fill their plates, and when their hands brushed reaching for the pastries, he hadn’t been able to resist stepping behind her and kissing her neck. She had been wearing a new turban, and her neck was deliciously bare. They’d had to move away from each other quickly when his butler entered with another tray of food, but Thomas liked the conspiratorial smiles he shared with Raeni for the rest of the day.
He did not see her at Bond Street Coffee & Tobacco as much and when he did, he made certain not to kiss her, even when they were alone. He did not want her or anyone else to think he had hired her as a plaything. She was certainly nothing of the sort. She’d been busy organizing his opening celebration and based on the plans he’d seen and the expenses he’d authorized, it would be quite the affair. If there was anyone on Bond Street, or in London for that matter, who was not aware of Bond Street Coffee & Tobacco now, they would be after the opening.
But the opening was a matter for another day. Tonight he had the Dark Ball to prepare for, and he’d sent Raeni home early and then followed shortly thereafter to bathe and dress. When he arrived home, he stepped into his foyer to find Madame Renauld was already there, one of her assistants holding a large dress box. Raeni was also in the foyer, making what was usually a comfortable space feel quite small. As soon as he stepped inside his butler muttered, “Thank God” and all three women turned to look at him and spoke at once.
Not surprisingly, the modiste won the skirmish and shushed the others. “Monsieur, you must tell your lady that she ees ridiculous.”
Thomas looked at Raeni, who gave him an exasperated eye roll. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Madame Renauld.”
“But, monsieur, she wants to take the dress and send me away.”
He arched a brow. “Is that not how it’s usually done?”
“Mon Dieu!” Madame Renauld threw a fresh litany of French at him, only half of which he understood.
Fortunately, the seamstress intervened. “Sir, usually the first time a Renauld is worn, Madame herself assesses the fit and makes any alterations.”
“I see.”
“I don’t,” Raeni answered. “I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself.”
Madame Renauld began spouting French again, and Thomas understood why his butler had been eager to retreat.
Finally, Raeni motioned to a side table against the wall. “Let me see it then.”
“Thees is not how it is usually done.” Madame Renauld gestured to her assistant. “But I will make an exception.”