The change of topic did not seem to be to his liking, for he frowned. “Anna, we cannot—”

“You know Lily, don’t you?”

He was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed. “No. Who is she?”

“She is serving as lady’s maid to Lady Putney. But Lily has taken so well to the children and seems so nervous when not in the nursery, that we thought we might hire a new lady’s maid for Lady Putney.”

“Do as you deem necessary.”

“It might make Lady Putney angry.”

“Then I shall like the plan all the more,” he replied shortly.

Anna had to fight a sudden impulse to lean over and trail her lips along that tight jaw. She wanted to taste him again, to feel his touch. Even more, she wanted him to finish what he had started. She knew from his expression what it had cost him to stop when he had.

Good heavens, but she was in a coil. She was in more danger with Greyley than she thought possible. The more she saw his attention to the children and his service to the Elliot family, the more she’d come to value him. And that was the last thing she wanted to feel for a man bent on seducing her.

Not that she minded being seduced; it was quite the opposite, in fact. But she knew the pain that would come if she were to succumb to other, more serious thoughts and feelings. If she began to believe that there was a happy-ever-after for her, a governess. And therein lay the danger.

The silence in the room grew until it felt oppressive. Anna forced a brittle smile to her lips. “Greyley, I know this is awkward. We’ll just pretend it never happened—”

She was in his arms and pinned against his chest before she could blink. “No,” he said gruffly, looking down at her with a blazing look that vanquished the pain in her heart. “We won’t pretend anything. I want you, Anna. But only if you want me, too. I just didn’t mean for us to go so far.” He glanced around the room and shook his head. “Not here, anyway. I want us to have something more special, something more permanent.”

Anna’s breath caught in her throat. “Permanent?” She hated the way the word sounded so hopeful, but Anthony didn’t seem to mind.

He looked down at her, a gleam in his eyes as he ran his hands over her back and hips, over and over again, the movement sending ripples of pleasure through her. “Yes. I have a small house not two miles from here and—”

“A house?”

“Yes. For now. Later…” He shrugged. “If you wish something more grand, I can have something built here, on Greyley lands.”

“Later?”

His jaw tightened at her expression. “Anna, I will take care of you always. I swear it.”

The brief flash of hope was incinerated by searing anger. She pushed herself away. “You—”

“Well!” came a voice from the doorway. “There you two are.”