The Marker by Meggan Connors Page B

better.”
    She peeked around him and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Dressed in the finest gown she had ever worn, now she was draped in matching rubies. Large scarlet stones dangled from her ears, and the necklace—good God, the necklace must have cost a fortune. Rubies, surrounded by diamonds, formed a scalloped pattern settling gently on her collarbones. This necklace alone must cost as much as her fiancé would pay for her. Perhaps more.
    She pushed the thought away and touched the necklace. She didn’t want to think of the future. What she had was now, and she intended to enjoy every second. The gems gracing her throat and her ears were the most beautiful things she had ever worn, ever seen. That he thought her worthy to wear such jewels—or to touch them, even—made her feel prized in a way she never had been before. It was a sensation so unfamiliar, tears immediately sprang to her eyes.
     
    She gazed up at Nicholas with those wide, obsidian eyes brimming with tears, and he felt like a cad again for reasons that eluded him. He hadn’t anticipated tears at his gesture, and he hoped he hadn’t ruined the gains he’d made with her tonight. His courting of Lexie had taken a turn for the better tonight, up until he brought out his mother’s jewels. Worry creasing his brow, he asked, “Do you not like them? I can take them back.”
    She shook her head, putting a protective, scarlet-gloved hand on his mother’s necklace. Her eyes searched his face, but he couldn’t quite interpret her expression—cautious, touched, maybe a little sad—and he wondered what she was thinking. He’d heard the moan that escaped her when he touched her skin. He’d affected her then. But a moment later, tears formed in her eyes when she saw what he had given her, and the rush he felt at Lexie’s desire had immediately been replaced by a strange tightening in his chest at the sight of her tears. He reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek.
    “Then why are you crying? They’re lovely on you. I doubt there was ever a woman who looked quite so fine in those jewels.”
    She stared up at him for a long time, and he waited a long time for an answer. He wanted to hear her voice again—wanted it more than he had wanted to hear anything in his life. The thought stunned him. He’d heard raucous excitement when he had won huge hands at cards, he’d heard women moaning as he pleasured them with his body, but the one sound he wanted to hear above all others was the sound of this beautiful, proud woman’s voice, saying anything. So what she did next stunned him even more.
    She rose up on her toes and kissed him softly on the mouth.
    It was a sweet, chaste kiss, and over all too soon. From the look on her face she had no plans to yield more. And yet that small kiss rocked him to his core. He had neither seduced her into giving it nor stolen it from her. She kissed him freely, a gesture of friendship, of a relationship going beyond that of employer and employee.
    Perhaps his idea of courting her was worth his while, after all.

Chapter 6
     
    Despite Nicholas’s best attempts, Lexie had managed to maintain her silence throughout the duration of the carriage ride to the governor’s mansion. The kiss she had given him had stunned them both, and Nicholas hadn’t anticipated the effect it would have on him. From her shocked expression he knew she was as surprised at her display of affection as he was. He’d thought about pursuing her for more, but the cautious way her body stiffened when he moved closer to her to do just that told him she wouldn’t yield him anything more. He had to be content with what she gave him and nothing more. So he’d smoothed his features into the smile that had melted so many hearts, escorted her out to the carriage, and tried his best to be a solicitous gentleman ever since.
    She had the bearing of a queen, and he intended to treat her as such. Upon their arrival at the Governor’s Ball, a footman