She didn’t know how long she’d soaked in that tub, ruminating over her situation, but she suddenly realized the bathwater had turned cold. Reluctantly, she reached for the towel on the nearby vanity stool. She felt pleasantly drowsy, so maybe the long soak had relaxed her enough to get a good night’s sleep. If so, it would be the first real sleep she’d had since landing in Texas.

Standing, she stepped out of the tub onto the hardwood floor and dried herself off. Her wet hair fell down her back in tangled strands.

Just as she finished wrapping the towel around her middle, the door flew open, startling her. “Oh!”

Filling the doorway, Chase hesitated a moment, a look of apology on his face. He turned his head to address someone in the hall. “Good night,” he said over his shoulder, and Emily heard the housekeeper wish him the same.

He then entered the room and closed the door firmly behind him.

Heart thumping madly, she clutched at the towel, making sure it was tightly tucked around her. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded when at last she could find her voice.

The question seemed to surprise him. “Right now, I’m hoping to convince Peggy Sue and Cookie that we have a real marriage.”

“You could have knocked,” she said.

“They might have thought it strange, had they seen me knockin’ on my wife’s door.” He arched an eyebrow. “Would you have let me in had I knocked?”

“Definitely not!” she seethed.

“There you have it,” he said. “If word gets out that we’re sleepin’ in separate rooms, it will be hard to convince the executor of the will that we have a real marriage. You do remember our deal?”

Oh, she remembered it all right. Every last word. The question was, did he? “You’re not sleeping in my bed! I told you—”

He cut her off with an abrupt wave of his hand. “I know what you told me.”

His appraising look suggested he didn’t miss a thing. Not the curve of her ivory shoulders or the swell of her firm breasts showing above the tightly clenched towel. Nor did he miss her shocking display of bare legs and feet.

Cheeks flaring, she gave her head a haughty toss and lifted her chin with as much dignity as she could muster. “If you’re done gawking, I must ask you to leave.”

He raised a dark brow. “Don’t worry,” he said with a wry twist of his mouth. “Your virtue shall remain safe and secure. I’m fixin’ to occupy the next room.”

He inclined his head toward the arched doorway, leading to a small room adjacent to hers. Earlier, she had explored the space and decided that it had originally been used as a nursery. It had never occurred to her that Chase meant to sleep there.

He held her gaze. “Should you get the notion to climb into my bed, I shall put a stop to it at once.”